Demonstration: Roger Waters renounces controversial outfit

For months there was a dispute about Roger Waters’ appearance in the Frankfurt Festhalle. The musician reacts by not wearing a controversial stage outfit. The allegations of anti-Semitism remain.

After police investigations into hate speech, the controversial rock musician Roger Waters appeared in Frankfurt without a leather coat and armband. Because he knows the history of the Frankfurt Festhalle, he refrains from dressing up “as a demagogue” in the second part of his show, Waters said last night at the beginning of his two-and-a-half-hour concert.

The co-founder of the rock band Pink Floyd is repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism, which is why hundreds of people demonstrated against his performance in front of the Festhalle, including Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef (SPD). He accused Waters of spreading anti-Semitic ideas “under the guise of freedom” and “we don’t want someone like that in our city.”

criticism of his performances

In the course of the pogrom night in 1938, more than 3,000 Jewish men were rounded up, detained and mistreated in the Frankfurt Festhalle, the venue for the concert, before they were finally deported. Waters said he felt the suffering that befell the people of that place.

He knows that many people accuse him of being an anti-Semite. “I’m not,” said Waters to the cheers of many viewers. The musician also burst into tears for a short time.

At concerts, the 79-year-old also released pig-shaped balloons with a Star of David. There was also such a balloon in Frankfurt in the evening, but like at the other previous Germany concerts without the Star of David. However, an animation with pigs was also projected onto the screens for the Pink Floyd classic “Money”.

Political slogans and slogans – against capitalism, War, militarism and other topics. The musician spoke several times and made political statements.

Sign against antisemitism

At the commemoration and protest event in front of the Festhalle, representatives from politics, religious communities and civil society had previously called for resolute action against anti-Semitism, hatred and hate speech. Michaela Fuhrmann, Head of Political Relations at the Frankfurt Jewish Community, said the aim was to take a stand against anti-Semitism, against hatred of Israel and against conspiracy theories.

The police spoke of around 500 participants. Some of them held up signs that read “Israel, we are by your side” and “Roger Waters, wish you were not here” and “Roger Waters, we don ‘t need your education” (Roger Waters, we don’t need your education) as a reference to two of Pink Floyd’s most famous songs, on which Waters was one of the singers.

“Hatred of Jews is to be condemned everywhere in our city, but it is unbearable that the voice of hatred of Jews is being raised again here in this very place,” said mayor Josef (SPD). This must not be repeated. “There is no reason to hate, insult and attack a person because of his religion.” The civic duty is “to show a clear edge against anti-Semitism every day”.

The Hessian anti-Semitism commissioner Uwe Becker (CDU) also stated that hatred of Jews should not be sung or expressed in any hall in Germany. It is terrible to understand that 85 years after the pogrom night of 1938, the events are being played down, that hatred and hate speech are being spread.

police investigated

There had already been a lot of criticism of Waters’ concerts nationwide. The 79-year-old has been accused of his affiliation with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign, which calls for a boycott of the State of Israel and its assets over its treatment of the Palestinians.

It was also announced on Friday that the Berlin police had started investigations against Waters on suspicion of incitement to hatred. The background is the musician’s stage clothing during his concerts on May 17th and 18th in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin.

In videos on social media, he was seen wearing a long black coat with epaulettes and a red armband featuring a white circle with a symbol. A week ago, Waters was also on stage in Munich in a black leather coat and red armband.

Waters had defended himself against the suspicion of incitement to hatred even before the Frankfurt concert. “The elements of my performance that were questioned are clearly a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms,” ​​said a statement released by a lawyer for Waters.

Waters’ show in Frankfurt was originally supposed to be canceled because of allegations of anti-Semitism. Waters had sued against this and was right by the Frankfurt Administrative Court at the end of April. In its decision, the court also referred to artistic freedom. In his stage show, Waters obviously uses a symbolism based on National Socialist rule. The court found that the performance did not relativize or glorify the National Socialist atrocities.

dpa

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