{"id":100125,"date":"2017-10-16T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=100125"},"modified":"2017-10-10T18:18:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T17:18:33","slug":"roger-waters-rocks-on-as-film-targets-him-for-palestine-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/10\/roger-waters-rocks-on-as-film-targets-him-for-palestine-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Waters Rocks On as Film Targets Him for Palestine Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A documentary accusing the veteran rock star of anti-Semitism is part of a smear campaign discrediting the BDS movement, say activists.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Composer and former bassist and singer of British rock band Pink Floyd Roger Waters, is seen while touring Israel\u2019s apartheid wall in the West Bank refugee camp of Aida in Bethlehem, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.
(AP\/Muhammed Muheisen)<\/p><\/div>\n

2 Oct 2017 – <\/em>Roger Waters is no stranger to controversy. The founding member of Pink Floyd is an\u00a0outspoken<\/a>\u00a0advocate for Palestinian rights and the BDS movement, but his current Us + Them<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0tour\u00a0has been met by opposition from pro-Israel groups and a new documentary targeting his views on Israel.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FG46-9Vls7Q<\/p>\n

A series of film screenings<\/a> of\u00a0Wish You Weren\u2019t Here,\u00a0<\/em>a documentary by Ian Halperin that accuses Waters of anti-Semitism, is scheduled in cities across Canada\u00a0in October. The screenings, sponsored by Jewish advocacy group B\u2019nai Brith Canada<\/a>, are timed to coincide with Waters\u2019 own tour across the country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Karen Rodman from the Canadian BDS committee while in Palestine. (Photo courtesy of Karen Rodman)<\/p><\/div>\n

Karen Rodman, an organiser with the Canadian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS<\/a>) coalition, which calls for an international boycott of Israel over the way it treats Palestinians and violates international laws, said that the film\u2019s tour is part of a wider \u201csmear campaign\u201d to discredit Waters and the movement. The BDS committee includes groups like\u00a0Independent Jewish Voices<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Palestine Solidarity Network.<\/p>\n

A Waters concert last week in Long Island went on in spite of attempts to shut it down by Nassau County officials<\/a> who cited a local ani-BDS bill,\u00a0which passed in May 2016.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Recording artist Roger Waters performs at T-Mobile Arena on 16 June 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (AFP)<\/p><\/div>\n

The concert Waters held in Miami was marred by a full-page ad<\/a>\u00a0in the Miami Herald\u00a0paid for by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation (GMJF<\/a>) with the headline: “Anti-Semitism and Hatred Are Not Welcome in Miami.”<\/p>\n

In what Canada Palestine Association chair Hanna Kawas calls part of a \u201cco-ordinated\u201d international campaign to discredit Waters and the BDS movement, the GMJF wrote:<\/p>\n

“Your vile messages of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and hatred are not welcome in our community,\u201d adding, \u201cMr Waters, stop openly calling for support of a cultural boycott of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership that Roger Waters has shown globally in standing up for Palestinian rights is admirable.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n– Karen Rodman, the Canadian BDS committee\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Musician Roger Waters performs during his Us + Them Tour at Staples Center on 20 June 2017 in Los Angeles, California (AFP)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Encouraged by the same organisation, The City of Miami Beach prevented a group of children from a summer camp drama programme from singing on stage with Waters. He responded in an oped<\/a>\u00a0published earlier this month in the New York Times, headlined “Congress Shouldn\u2019t Silence Human Rights Advocates.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that city officials have a democratic right to disagree with my opinions, but I was shocked that they were willing to take it out on kids,” Rogers wrote.<\/p>\n

The show goes on<\/strong><\/p>\n

Still, Waters tour goes on and he continues to campaign for Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Roger Waters spraypaints graffiti against Israel\u2019s separation barrier surrounding the West Bank town of Bethlehem before his concert in Rotterdam, 7 July 2006 (AFP)<\/p><\/div>\n

He opposed a draft bill in the US Senate aimed at silencing BDS supporters<\/a>,\u00a0called the Israeli Anti-Boycott Act<\/a>, which would impose penalties on US citizens \u201cengaged in interstate or foreign commerce\u201d who support the boycott of Israeli products and services, including up to 20 years in prison and a $1m fine.<\/p>\n

Waters wrote in the New York Times:<\/p>\n

\u00a0“By endorsing this McCarthyite bill, senators would take away Americans\u2019 First Amendment rights in order to protect Israel from nonviolent pressure to end its 50-year-old occupation of Palestinian territory and other abuses of Palestinian rights.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PrcQ6xoHx0Q<\/p>\n

The bill has also attracted much criticism<\/a> from free-speech advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union. Rodman points out that while motions have been passed federally, provincially and even municipally that condemn BDS in Canada, they are not binding like some American legislation that criminalises support for BDS.<\/p>\n

Still this has not stopped groups like B\u2019nai Brith Canada from targeting Waters. The group’s CEO Michael Mostyn\u00a0said in a statement explaining the campaign:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re only targeting Israel for delegitimisation and demonisation and with a double standard, that\u2018s anti-Semitism, and that\u2019s what Roger Waters is guilty of.<\/em><\/p>\n

“By promoting this film, B\u2019nai Brith hopes to raise awareness of his extremely misguided and dangerous views, and highlight the truth surrounding Waters\u2019 activism: that it\u2019s biased, unfactual, and lends credence to the movement that seeks Israel\u2019s destruction.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhether or not he views himself as an anti-Semite, Roger Waters is using his platform as a musician to promote a completely false and anti-Semitic narrative.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>He further stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not he views himself as an anti-Semite, Roger Waters is using his platform as a musician to promote a completely false and anti-Semitic narrative. This narrative ignores history, genealogy, archaeology, and anthropology, and leads to real-world consequences for members of the Jewish community who get targeted by fanatics caught up in its hateful ideology.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rather than \u201cplaying into B\u2019nai Brith Canada\u2019s bid for publicity,\u201d said Rodman, Canadian activists will be staging not counter protests but \u201cwelcoming events\u201d for Waters as he makes his way across the country. Rodman and her fellow activists plan to stand outside venues with signage and information tables about Palestinian issues and BDS.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Roger Waters addresses the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People as a representative of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine on 29 November 2012 at UN headquarters in New York (AFP)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe leadership that Roger Waters has shown globally in standing up for Palestinian rights is admirable,” Rodman said. \u201cWe\u2019d love to see Canadian artists follow in his footsteps.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To that end the group is \u201cdelighted\u201d that Waters has signed a petition to stop <\/a>Canadian rock star Bryan Adams from playing in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem this December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Roger Waters is being unfairly targeted, as are many people who stand up for Palestinian rights. They risk being slandered and tactics of fear are used to silence them,” Rodman said.<\/p>\n

But the B\u2019nai Brith tour of Wish You Weren\u2019t Here<\/em> may in fact backfire says Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) activist Sid Shniad, who has already bought his ticket for Waters\u2019 Vancouver date, and notes that the tour,\u00a0which has included stops in Europe and America,\u00a0is quite popular. Waters even had to schedule several\u00a0extra concerts<\/a>\u00a0on his tour because of the huge demand.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve sent word to Waters via Facebook, asking if there’s anything IJV and others in the Palestine solidarity movement can do to express our support for the tour, but haven’t heard anything back,” he said.<\/p>\n

Waters\u00a0visited Israel<\/a>\u00a0in 2006 to play a gig during his Dark Side of the Moon tour, where he toured the occupied West Bank and moved his concert from HaYarkon park in Tel Aviv to Wahat al-Salam – Neveh Shalom, a village in between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, called the “Oasis of Peace\u201d in English. After this visit, his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict changed.<\/p>\n

In an\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0published in February 2016, Rogers told the Independent that the Palestinian civilisation, \u201cis an ancient, brilliant, artistic and very humane civilisation that is being destroyed in front of our eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a Human Rights Watch (HRW)\u00a0report\u00a0<\/a>published in June 2017, HRW stated:<\/p>\n

“Fifty years after\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it controls these areas through repression, institutionalised discrimination, and systematic abuses of the Palestinian population\u2019s rights.” HRW added that the Israeli occupation was involved in “unlawful killings; forced displacement; abusive detention”.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trial by film<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an interview with MEE, film-maker Ian Halperin, whose last documentary Broken<\/em> <\/a>was about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s relationship, said he was not bothered by potential \u201cwelcoming events\u201d by activists for Waters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ian Halperin does not see a parallel between calls for sanctions against South Africa from black activists and the BDS movement (Photo courtesy of Ian Halperin)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am very pro-first amendment,\u201d said the film-maker, who has secured screening dates in Chicago, New York and Miami in November, hosted by Jewish and Christian evangelical groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy film is not an echo chamber of Jews complaining about anti-Semitism. Some Arabs and Muslims are interviewed as well as South African former anti-apartheid leaders,” he said.<\/p>\n

Although Halperin said he cannot reveal too much information about the film<\/a> until its premiere, he relates that interviews include ones with the Pope,\u00a0Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair, a member of the Quilliam Foundation<\/a>, named after the man who opened England’s first mosque, as well as with Palestinian citizens of Israel interviewed in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Roger Waters is being unfairly targeted, as are many people who stand up for Palestinian rights. They risk being slandered and tactics of fear are used to silence them.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

– Karen Rodman, the Canadian BDS committee\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Halperin said his film is about Waters within the larger context of global anti-Semitism. \u201cRacism is racism,\u201d he said, noting that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are both related issues.<\/p>\n

But he cites Canada\u2019s inter-faith and multicultural nature, and solidarity<\/a> after the massacre at the Quebec City mosque as being distinct from the US.<\/p>\n

But why focus on Roger Waters?<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a son of Polish Holocaust survivors, I am deeply offended by Waters equating Israel with Nazi Germany,” he said. The premise of the film, he explained, is to disprove this notion by interviewing global experts on racism and anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ian Halperin (L) with World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder after filming interview. (Photo courtesy of Ian Halperin)<\/p><\/div>\n

Halperin, who is also a musician, said that he played with many black South Africans from townships and was an anti-apartheid activist in the 80s. But, unlike South Africa’s archbishop\u00a0and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, he does not see a parallel between calls for sanctions against South Africa from black activists and the BDS movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are apples and oranges,\u201d he said, noting that \u201cIsraeli Arabs\u201d can \u201csit in parliament\u201d and have \u201cequal rights\u201d. Halperin has never been to the occupied West Bank or Gaza, but travelled to Israel to interview \u201cJews and Arabs\u201d for the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a son of Polish Holocaust survivors, I am deeply offended by Waters equating Israel with Nazi Germany.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

– Ian Halperin,\u00a0film-maker\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cEveryone I talked to wanted peace,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the leaders that foment the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cultural boycott against Israel, he said, unfairly targets artists and intellectuals, many of whom are pro-Palestinian.<\/p>\n

According to Halperin, Roger Waters declined interview requests and is not part of Wish You Weren\u2019t Here<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For her part, Rodman, who like Halperin has had no direct contact with the rock star, said: \u201cWe commend Roger Waters for his stance and convictions on human rights. The Palestinian civil society call for BDS is based on international humanitarian law, and calls for the same rights for Palestinians afforded to all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted that \u201cRoger Waters’ music and words speak for themselves. To criticise any state is not a violation of human rights. However, to violate the principles of freedom, equity and justice for people is a violation of human rights. In speaking for these principles, Roger Waters is condemned by the Zionist project as are many people who defend justice for Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 middleeasteye.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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