When last we saw former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine he was, shall we say “less-than riveting” (for those too lazy to click the link – he fell asleep). But, it seems that the 69 year old Waters may have experienced a wake-up call, of sorts.
In a recent sit-down with Huffpost Live’s Josh Zepps, Waters, a longtime critic of the Israeli government and vocal proponent of the controversial Boycott / Divest / Sanctions (BDS) movement, seemed to back away from the rhetoric which has made him a persona-non-grata in some Jewish communities. As reported by Rolling Stone, Waters, in reference to his call for other performers to join him in boycotting Israel, said:
The letter asking my fellow musicians to boycott Israel has never appeared. I am thinking all of this through extremely carefully and I’m thinking it all through extremely carefully because I care more about the outcome, because I care about the people involved, than I do about the moment.
Which isn’t to say Waters is all of a sudden hunky dory with Israel. He continues to believe that Israeli settlement are “an impregnable obstacle to peace”. Rather, it sounds as if he’s simply resigned to what he sees is the uselessness of preventing artists from playing in a contested territory. Or, as he puts it:
[The Israeli Government] is running riot, and it seems unlikely that running over there and playing the violin will have any lasting effect.
Translation: “Shit is so fucked up over there, I might as well head over to play ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ because, fuck it, why not?”
If you’d synched this article to Dark Side of the Moon, I bet you’d hear the opening chords of Pink Floyd’s classic “Money” right about now.
Watch the full interview below:
[via]
Fuck him. Ever since he joined Hamas Ummagumma is my dog’s new Frisbee.
Drop dead, Roger. Oh, I see you already have.