Roger Waters responded Monday to the ADL’s claim that his performance of “Goodbye Blue Sky” in The Wall Live tour was anti-Semitic in an open letter to The Independent, a U.K. newspaper.
Waters, the bassist for Pink Floyd, was accused of having anti-Semitic video imagery projected on to a backdrop during his show by the head of the ADL, Abraham Foxman. In the performance B-52s drop bombs in the shape of crucifixes, crescent moons, Jewish stars, dollar signs, and other symbols. Foxman, who makes over $300,000 a year, claimed that the proximity of the Jewish star to the dollar signs, “play[s] into and dredg[es] up the worst age-old anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and their supposed obsession with making money.”
Waters felt obligated to reply to the accusation because “people will see the story and will come to believe I’m anti-Semitic, and I’m not. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
He explained that while he is against Israel’s policies regarding the West Bank, he has no problem with the religion. He accused the ADL of declaring any critics of Israel as anti-Semites.
“It’s a screen that they hide behind. I don’t think they should be taken seriously on that. You can attack Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish,” he said.
He went on to criticize Foxman for not coming to the show before passing criticism and only relying on hearsay.
Nobody should perceive any anti-Jewish sentiments in the visuals, Waters said, explaining, “Contrary to Mr. Foxman’s assertion, there are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols.”
Finally, in an ultimate—though possibly unintentional—bitch-slap of Foxman and his organization, Waters writes, “I had never heard of the ADL until today.”
