WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Biden administration is weighing in on the controversy over Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, saying his recent performances in Germany were antisemitic, an assessment shared by many in Israel and the pro-Israel community.
The State Department said Tuesday that Waters has 鈥渁 long track record of using antisemitic tropes" and a concert he gave late last month in Germany 鈥渃ontained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust.鈥
The comments came in a written response to a question posed at Monday鈥檚 State Department press briefing about whether the administration agreed with criticism of Rogers from the U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt.
鈥淪pecial Envoy Lipstadt鈥檚 speaks for itself,鈥 the department said.
鈥淭he concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust," the department said. 鈥淭he artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.鈥
In a May 24 tweet after the concert in Berlin, during which Waters appeared on stage in a costume reminiscent of Nazi-era Germany, Lipstadt denounced the musician by echoing comments from EU antisemitism envoy Katharina von Schnurbein, who is German.
鈥淚 wholeheartedly concur with 鈥檚 condemnation of Roger Waters and his despicable Holocaust distortion,鈥 Lipstadt wrote in reply to a tweet from von Schnurbein.
Von Schnurbein had taken issue with Waters' performance in Berlin as well as his previous comments related to Israel and the Holocaust.
鈥淚 am sick & disgusted by Roger Waters鈥 obsession to belittle and trivialize the Shoah & the sarcastic way in which he delights in trampling on the victims, systematically murdered by the Nazis,鈥 von Schnurbein wrote. 鈥淚n Germany. Enough is enough.鈥
Shortly after the concert, on suspicion of incitement over the costume he wore.
Images on social media showed Waters firing an imitation machine gun while dressed in a long black coat with a red armband. Police confirmed that the costume could constitute a glorification, justification or approval of Nazi rule and therefore a disturbance of the public peace.
Waters rejected those accusations in a statement on Facebook and Instagram, saying 鈥渢he elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms.鈥
He claimed that 鈥漚ttempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated.鈥 Waters has also drawn the ire of the pro-Israel community for his outspoken support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.
