Is Roger Waters really an antisemite? For Jewish reality TV star Sharon Osbourne, it’s a no-brainer.
“Is the Pope a Catholic?” she asked rhetorically when the question was put to her on TalkTV on Monday.
Speaking following the publication of a film last week containing incendiary new allegations about the former Pink Floyd frontman, she said: “I know him. I know his reputation that precedes him in our industry.
"He laughs, he’s always telling jokes about Jews, always making comments about money, the cliché, you know, old time opinion.
“He’s really lost the plot. I think he should go and…live in an old people’s home and leave the Jews alone."
Asked whether she thought of Waters as an antisemite, she replied: “Is the Pope a Catholic?”
https://twitter.com/hearnimator/status/1708788785008218434?s=20
The film published by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) featured two interviewees who knew Waters well; his former producer and former saxophonist.
They made explosive new claims about Waters, including the allegation that he had referred to his Jewish former agent as a “f***ing Jew” and a claim that he referred disparagingly to a vegetarian restaurant meal as “Jew food”.
The documentary, The Dark Side of Roger Waters, presented by the veteran BBC investigative journalist John Ware, also claimed Waters suggested in an email that the giant inflatable pig that floats above the audience at his shows should be adorned not only with a Star of David but the phrases “follow the money” and “dirty kyke [sic]”.
Waters did not provide a response to the allegations in time for the publication of the film but instead posted a reply on the first day of Succot, triggering outrage from CAA.
— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) September 29, 2023
Waters wrote in his response: “Campaign Against Antisemitism gave me seven days to respond to multiple questions about matters dating back to 2002 and 2010.
"I am active in the non-violent protest movement against the Israeli government’s illegal occupation of Palestine and its egregious treatment of Palestinians. Those who wish to conflate that position with antisemitism do a great disservice to us all.”
CAA wrote on X/Twitter following the statement by Waters: “There he is. Replying at the start of a two-day Jewish holy period when we cannot answer, having waited over three weeks since we invited him to reply to or dispute any of the allegations in our documentary.”
There he is.
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) October 1, 2023
Replying at the start of a two-day Jewish holy period when we cannot answer, having waited over three weeks since we invited him to reply to or dispute any of the allegations in our documentary, @RogerWaters finally responds to the allegations.
Except he doesn’t.… https://t.co/Ce0n1akx16
Waters went on to accuse CAA of “waging partisan political campaigns against critics of the state of Israel”.
However, he did not deny or confirm many of the key allegations in the documentary, saying: “Truth is, I’m frequently mouthy and prone to irreverence, I can’t recall what I said 13 or more years ago.”
Waters attracted a wave of criticism during his recent European tour. During one show in Germany, he sported a long black coat with a red armband, and pointed an imitation machine gun at the audience. The musician claimed the elements of his performance being criticised represented “quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms”.
