Hundreds protest against Roger Waters show in Frankfurt
Around 400 people demonstrated outside Frankfurt’s Festhalle before a concert by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters.
Women hold Israeli flags as they take part in a demonstration against a concert later the day of former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters in the Festhalle, background, in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 28, 2023.
Photo: Michael Probst/AP
The protesters were taking a stance against anti-Semitism, hatred of Israel and against conspiracy theories, Michaela Fuhrmann, head of political relations of the German city’s Jewish Community, told DPA.
Participants held signs saying “Israel, we are by your side” and “Roger Waters, wish you were not here,” in reference to one of the most famous songs by Pink Floyd.
Sunday’s protest follows accusations of anti-Semitism by Waters, who caused outrage in Berlin on May 17 when he performed in a Nazi-style uniform and aimed an imitation machine-gun at the audience.
In a statement released by a German law firm on his behalf, Waters said the performance only harked back to the imagery used in Pink Floyd’s iconic album and film The Wall.
I don’t know who did this at the @rogerwaters concert in Frankfurt but we should find out and invite them to light a candle at next year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut ceremony.
(And this should be a thing now at every single one of his bastard shows.)pic.twitter.com/Py9F3EtjAP
— Yoni Leviatan (@songsofyoni) May 28, 2023
Waters said he was opposed to authoritarianism and noted that his father died fighting the Nazis in Wo rld War II.
Meanwhile, authorities in Berlin were investigating his two recent Berlin performances for possible “incitement of the people.”
His concert in Frankfurt was originally to be cancelled because of accusations of anti-Semitism. Waters in April successfully had this overturned in a Frankfurt court, which in its ruling invoked artistic freedom.
The Festhalle was where more than 3000 Jews were rounded up, beaten and deported to concentration camps on Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – in November 1938.
Other German cities, including Munich and Cologne, also tried to cancel Waters’ concerts after Jewish groups accused him of anti-Semitism.
with Reuters
