Roger Waters gets April-fooled: He’s playing Tel Aviv
Furious Pink Floyd co-founder says faked announcement of Israel concert ‘no laughing matter’
An April Fools’ tweet by an Israeli government-sponsored Twitter account managed to boil the blood of Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd co-founder known for his anti-Israel stance.
The April 1 tweet by 4IL, a pro-Israel account run by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, announced that Waters would play a concert in Tel Aviv on July 16 saying: “Pink Floyd legend @rogerwaters is coming to Tel Aviv! Mark your calendars!”
“HO! FUCKING HO! EXCEPT THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER,” Waters yelled in an all-caps response.
The British musician’s tweet linked to his Facebook page, where he said Israeli soldiers were wantonly killing Palestinians on the Gaza border, with a picture alleged to be of a blood-covered Palestinian surgeon.
APRIL FOOLS DAY POST BY THE ISRAELI MINISTRY OF STRATEGIC AFFAIRS:
"ROGER WATERS TO PLAY IN TEL AVIV 16th JULY 2019.”
HO! FUCKING HO!
EXCEPT THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER.THE MURDER OF UNARMED CHILDREN AND PARAMEDICS AND JOURNALISTS…
Read more: https://t.co/yCaGhtosnD https://t.co/Xk3thRAuWD
— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) April 1, 2019
“YOU DISGUST ME, AND YOU DISGUST THE WHOLE OF THE REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD,” Waters tweeted.
Bassist and vocalist Waters, an outspoken critic of Israel, is known for publicly harassing artists scheduled to visit the country or perform there.
Earlier this year he joined other anti-Israel artists in Britain in calling for the BBC to boycott the upcoming Eurovision song contest on May 14-18 in Tel Aviv, but the broadcaster rejected the demand.
“The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBC’s participation for political reasons,” the BBC said in a statement.
Waters has a long history of angry statements about Israel. In 2013, having previously defended him from accusations of anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) acknowledged that “anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” have “seeped into the totality” of the former Pink Floyd frontman’s views.
The musician was denounced for holding concerts that included a huge floating pig-shaped balloon with Jewish symbols, including a Star of David, that prompted the Vatican to issue its own condemnation of Waters for “unrestrained anti-Semitism.”
In 2017, five national radio and television stations in Germany refused to broadcast his shows “in reaction to anti-Semitism accusations against him.”
For years Waters has urged fellow artists not to play concerts in Israel, with few paying heed.
Despite Waters’ longtime support for the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign against Israel, a report earlier this year said the movement had little appeal in the UK.
