Roger Waters, Alas

Roger Waters is at it again. The Pink Floyd fantasist and obsessive antisemite has taken to performing on a stage which contains, in enormous letters, the message “F**k Occupation.” Bu that he means only one thing: the “occupation” of “Palestinian lands” by the arrogant, aggressive, genocidal Jews of Israel. He doesn’t know much about history; he doesn’t want to know about the 3000-year history of Jews living on the land he insists is “occupied Palestinian land.” He doesn’t want to know, either, about the Balfour Declaration, or the Mandate for Palestine, especially Article 6, he doesn’t know Article 80 of the UN Charter, or the significance of UNSC Resolution 242, setting out the justification for Israel holding onto territory it acquired during the Six-Day War in order to be assured of “secure [i.e. recognized] and recognized boundaries.” Israel is an “occupier” in Roger Waters’ view, of all the land west of the Jordan, that is “from the river to the sea.” Israel must give up its occupation, and that means Israel must cease to exist.

Waters is highly selective in his indignation. He has never condemned the “occupation” of much of eastern Ukraine by Russia. In fact, he is one of very few people in the West who defend Putin’s war and insists the Ukrainians must surrender. He does not regard the eastern part of Ukraine that has been seized by Russian troops to be “occupied.” And he calls President Biden a “war criminal” for having supplied the Ukrainians with arms to defend themselves. He’ll be well satisfied if the Russians manage to defeat the Ukrainians and take over even more of their country. That’s an “occupation” Waters can support.

And he similarly defends the Chinese Communists who have lately been probing Taiwanese air defenses. He has repeatedly claimed that “Taiwan is part of China.” Waters has appeared on a Chinese propaganda network, China Global Television Network (CGTN) America, based in Washington, D.C. CGTN is an arm of the Beijing-led propaganda network China Central Television. In an interview with CGTN America about China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, Waters attacked American media for supporting Taiwan. “Jew Hater Roger Waters Appears on Chinese Propaganda Network,” by Anna Allen, Washington Free Beacon, August 23, 2022:

“You won’t catch me watching MSNBC or Fox or anything in between because it’s all nonsense. It’s all propaganda, all of it … and they’re doing it as an exercise in control,” Waters said.

Waters compared American media’s coverage of U.S.-Taiwan relations to Nazi Germany and to George Orwell’s 1984.

“It’s the same kind of technique that, dare I say it,” Waters said, “the Third Reich used in the ’30s in Germany: You have to identify somebody. They identified the Jews. … Once you identify your enemy it’s much easier to control the people because you close down the window of attention that they have.”

Waters reprimanded the United States for its relationship with Taiwan and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) for visiting Taiwan..

“It’s for the Chinese people to make those decisions … it’s none of our business … and it’s certainly none of Nancy Pelosi’s business,” Waters said.

In Waters’ view, it’s up to the “Chinese people” — that is, the highest echelon of the Chinese Communist Party, headed by Xi Jinping, ably assisted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army – to decide the fate of the 25 million people of Taiwan who, of course, have no desire to be ruled by mainland China.

And if the Chinese Army conquers Taiwan, Waters will be mightily pleased. In his view, the Chinese people “will have decided.” And he won’t be expressing any indignation about “occupied” Taiwan, though that’s exactly what the island nation will become.

The now-78-year-old anti-Israel propagandist has been making wild accusations against the Jewish state for years. In 2020, he discussed Israel’s alleged role in George Floyd’s death with the pro-Hamas Shehab News Agency. He has tried to persuade other bands from appearing in Israel, fortunately without success.

Waters has described on Twitter the eviction for years of non-payment of rent of a handful – fewer than a hundred — Arabs living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood as “genocide,” thereby draining that word of its proper meaning. Eviction is not mass killing. For his mad rant on Sheik Jarrah and the “genocidal Israelis” see his Twitter appearance here.

During the two days he performed in New York, as part of his “This Is Not A Drill” tour, Water’s pre-recorded voice warned those in the crowd at Madison Square Garden on August 30 and 31 that “If you’re one of those ‘I love Pink Floyd, but I can’t stand Roger’s politics’ people, you might do well to f**k off to the bar right now.” And during the concert, there were projected on a gigantic screen such examples of Waters’ eloquence as “F**k Occupation” and another that read, “You Can’t Have Occupation And Human Rights,” followed by “F**k Drones.” And he had projected on his video screen, too, in giant letters, “Shireen Abu Akleh. Crime: Palestinian.” Does anyone doubt that he is accusing Israel of having murdered her?

A defender of Putin’s war in Ukraine and Xi Jinping’s aggression against Taiwan, an antisemite of the first water who dares accuse Israel of “genocide” because its courts have permitted the eviction of Arabs for non-payment of rent, Roger Waters deserves his comeuppance. If you were thinking of attending one of his concerts, which would only help to swell his bank account (Waters is a self-styled champion of the poor who has accumulated a fortune of $310 million, with no sign of any contributions to those poor he claims to care about), just one word of heartfelt advice: Don’t.