Ex-Pink Floyd Frontman Roger Waters Say's the (Apartied) Wall has to go
Ex-Pink Floyd frontman demands Israel tear down 'wall'
Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who performed a one-off concert in Neve Shalom on June 22, has called on the government to tear down its controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank.(AFP/David Furst)
June 23, 2006
JERUSALEM (AFP) -Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who performed a one-off concert in Israel on Thursday, has called on the government to tear down its controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank.
"I believe we need this generation of Israelis to tear down the walls and make peace with their neighbours," the aging British rocker told the crowd of around 50,000 fans in the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Neveh Shalom.
The veteran musician enjoys a strong following in the region where Pink Floyd's 1979 hit Another Brick in the Wall has become an anthem of resistance to the separation barrier Israel is building across the West Bank.
But his comments incited a maelstrom of criticism, with the online edition of liberal newspaper Haaretz bombarded by nearly 300 comments, most of them angry and peppered with insults such as "idiot", "immoral", "moron" and "fool".
"So he'd have armies of suicide vermin... march into Israel blowing themselves and little children up every day? I presume that's what he wants," wrote one critic from New York State in the "Talkback" section.
"He never got on an Israeli bus, never had his car shot at, never stared down a Qassam (Palestinian rocket). Bye Roger, go do a concert in Saudi Arabia, then tell us about repression," said another respondent called "Ron".
Prior to the concert, the 63-year-old Waters visited the barrier, which the Jewish state says is vital to prevent militant attacks and which the Palestinians denounce as a land grab.
He scrawled the Pink Floyd lyrics "Tear down the wall" on the barrier and signed his initials, alongside graffiti left by hundreds of other protestors.
Waters had switched the concert venue from Tel Aviv to Neveh Shalom, close to Jerusalem, in an expression of support for co-existence after Palestinians living under occupation criticised his decision to perform in Israel.
Local fans who are opposed to Israel's separation barrier have adapted the lyrics of Another Brick in the Wall to read: "We don't need no occupation. We don't need no racist wall."
Waters split acrimoniously from Pink Floyd in the 1980s but rejoined the band for a one-off Live-8 concert last summer.
The concert provoked grid-locked traffic jams in all directions between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Thirty-one concert goers fainted owing to the heat and three young people dressed up as security guards were arrested.
Links:
Another Brick in the Wall Lyrics
Roger Waters calls on audience to 'tear down the walls'
Tear down the wall!
virtual wall online
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters urges Israel to 'tear down the wall'
The Wall-Febuary 2005
Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who performed a one-off concert in Neve Shalom on June 22, has called on the government to tear down its controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank.(AFP/David Furst)
June 23, 2006
JERUSALEM (AFP) -Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who performed a one-off concert in Israel on Thursday, has called on the government to tear down its controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank.
"I believe we need this generation of Israelis to tear down the walls and make peace with their neighbours," the aging British rocker told the crowd of around 50,000 fans in the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Neveh Shalom.
The veteran musician enjoys a strong following in the region where Pink Floyd's 1979 hit Another Brick in the Wall has become an anthem of resistance to the separation barrier Israel is building across the West Bank.
But his comments incited a maelstrom of criticism, with the online edition of liberal newspaper Haaretz bombarded by nearly 300 comments, most of them angry and peppered with insults such as "idiot", "immoral", "moron" and "fool".
"So he'd have armies of suicide vermin... march into Israel blowing themselves and little children up every day? I presume that's what he wants," wrote one critic from New York State in the "Talkback" section.
"He never got on an Israeli bus, never had his car shot at, never stared down a Qassam (Palestinian rocket). Bye Roger, go do a concert in Saudi Arabia, then tell us about repression," said another respondent called "Ron".
Prior to the concert, the 63-year-old Waters visited the barrier, which the Jewish state says is vital to prevent militant attacks and which the Palestinians denounce as a land grab.
He scrawled the Pink Floyd lyrics "Tear down the wall" on the barrier and signed his initials, alongside graffiti left by hundreds of other protestors.
Waters had switched the concert venue from Tel Aviv to Neveh Shalom, close to Jerusalem, in an expression of support for co-existence after Palestinians living under occupation criticised his decision to perform in Israel.
Local fans who are opposed to Israel's separation barrier have adapted the lyrics of Another Brick in the Wall to read: "We don't need no occupation. We don't need no racist wall."
Waters split acrimoniously from Pink Floyd in the 1980s but rejoined the band for a one-off Live-8 concert last summer.
The concert provoked grid-locked traffic jams in all directions between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Thirty-one concert goers fainted owing to the heat and three young people dressed up as security guards were arrested.
Links:
Another Brick in the Wall Lyrics
Roger Waters calls on audience to 'tear down the walls'
Tear down the wall!
virtual wall online
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters urges Israel to 'tear down the wall'
The Wall-Febuary 2005
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 4:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home