LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Roger Waters said he’s planning to take legal action against city officials in Germany over canceled concerts and accusations of antisemitism, which Waters has categorically denied.
A concert by Rogers planned for Frankfurt on May 28 was canceled last month on instructions from city officials, who argued that Waters was “one of the most widely known antisemites” in the world. A second show in Munich’s Olympiahalle on May 21st is also facing the threat of cancellation after a motion was filed with the City Council.
Waters was accused of being an antisemite and of using antisemitic imagery, including fascist symbols in the production of his concerts. A vocal opponent of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, Waters has supported an artistic boycott of Israel, calling the nation an “apartheid state” and accusing them of ethnic cleansing.
In his criticism, Waters has noted that he takes issue with the Government of Israel and not Judaism and claimed that Israel’s supporters have unfairly conflated his political criticism with antisemitism.
In a statement released on his social media, Rogers said:
“Hey Frankfurters leave free speech alone. My lawyers are taking steps to ensure that my concerts in Munich and Frankfurt in May 2023 take place as contracted. Human rights and freedom of speech for all peoples under German law must prevail, which is why i’m taking this stance to ensure that the will of the few will not prevent me from performing in Frankfurt and Munich.
“I am taking the unprecedented step of appealing to the law to protect me from unconstitutional actions of two authorities which seem to rely on the fundamentally false accusation that has been made against me; namely that I am an antisemite.
“I want to state for the record once and for all that I am not and never have been antisemitic and nothing that anyone can say or publish will alter that. My well publicized views relate entirely to the policies and actions of the Israeli government and not with the peoples of Israel. Antisemitism is odious and racist and I condemn it, along with all forms of racism unreservedly.
“I am not going to and do not need to keep making my position clear on this issue. I am confident that truth and the law will prevail and that these authorities will not succeed in denying my basic human rights.”
