Features
Floyd Stars Tell Stones To Swerve Israel
It’s not unusual for Roger Waters to voice his opinions on Israel and its regional politics, but now former Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason has joined him in urging The Rolling Stones not to play there.
The band is scheduled to play its first-ever concert in Israel at Tel Aviv’s 55,000-capacity
Waters and show promoter Shuki Weiss have already exchanged differing views on acts playing Israel, as recently as last August when the The Wall star called for fellow musicians to boycott the place.
Weiss said Waters should “think again” and that his time would be better spent using his influence to help do something about the situation. “No artist in the world is better suited than yourself to make a direct impact on the situation here,” Weiss said.
Waters and Mason have united in support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), “a growing, nonviolent global human rights movement initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005 to end Israel’s occupation, racial discrimination and denial of basic Palestinian rights.”
Key figures from the South African freedom struggle, like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mandela’s close associate, Ahmed Kathrada, have come out in support of BDS for Palestinian rights.
“The movement [BDS] does not advocate a particular political framework – one state or two – and neither do we,” Waters and Mason said in a statement. “Rather, we call for a resolution that upholds freedom, justice and equal rights for all, irrespective of identity, and does not cause additional suffering for either people.”
Waters’ issues with Israel first came to light in 2006, when he said he was being lobbied to cancel his Weiss-promoted show at Hayarkon Park because of Israel’s policy toward Palestinians.
He 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.