Agreeing To Disagree

Lieberberg tells Pollstar that he doesn’t believe Waters is anti-Semitic but has advised him that using an inflatable pig featuring a Star of David during his show is likely to cause offense.

The son of a holocaust survivor, Lieberberg says he and Waters have had “private correspondence” on the matter that has resulted in them “agreeing to disagree.”

He said communication between the two parties has all but ended.

Waters has subsequently added a Christian cross and an Islamic crescent moon to the symbols adorning the inflatable pig.

“I also don’t accept the comparison between Israel and an apartheid South Africa because I don’t believe it stacks up,” Lieberberg explained.

Leading up to the shows at the 46,000-capacity Berlin Olympic Stadium (Sept. 4) and the 34,000-capacity Dusseldorf Esprit Arena (Sept. 6), Lieberberg has been inundated with calls from newspapers and political figures regarding the visual content of “The Wall.”

A Jewish group in Dusseldorf urged a boycott of the Esprit Arena show and local Christian Democrat Mayor Dirk Elbers has voiced his concerns.

Dusseldorf Jewish community leader Michael Szentei-Heise has labelled Waters “an intellectual arsonist”‘ whose stage act uses “anti-Semitic and National Socialist imagery.”

Lieberberg, who has faced similar protests on Waters’ previous visits to Germany, says he’s “stuck in the middle of it.”

Although the protests in Dusseldorf have attracted the most media attention, Lieberberg said he’s more worried about the Berlin show, which falls on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

At the end of last month, Waters called for fellow musicians to boycott Israel, leading Tel Aviv-based promoter Shuki Weiss to tell the former Pink Floyd member he should “think again.”

Weiss said Waters’ time would be better spent using his influence to help do something about the situation. In an open three-page letter to Waters distributed to Israeli media Aug. 21, Weiss told Waters that “no artist in the world is better suited than yourself to make a direct impact on the situation here.”

Waters’ issues with Israel first came to light in 2006, when he said he was being lobbied to cancel his Weiss-promoted show in Tel Aviv’s 55,000-capacity Hayarkon Park because of Israel’s policy toward Palestinians. Waters eventually decided the show should take place at the peace village at Neve Shalom, a community dedicated to the peaceful co-existence of different faiths and races.

Weiss had to pay local farmers $128,000 as compensation for their chick pea harvests, which had to be torn up to make way for the site infrastructure.

Most of the box office went on creating the venue.

Acts that have pulled out of shows in Israel include Elvis Costello, Pixies, Santana, Gorillaz Sound System, and Bjork.

Elton John, Paul McCartney, Madonna, and Depeche Mode are among those who have made the trip.

It wasn’t possible to get comment from Waters’ management at press time.