Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has had his concert ads dropped by US Major League Baseball (MLB) following an outcry from a Jewish group. B’nai B’rith International protested against promotion of the artist’s latest concert tour "This is Not a Drill" during MLB’s games, accusing Waters of anti-Semitism.
The group sent a letter to MLB saying his political views "far exceed the boundaries of a civil discourse".
Our letter to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred protesting the promotion of known anti-Semite Roger Waters's concert tour received widespread media coverage. To support our work advocating against anti-Semitism and hate, donate: https://t.co/SGmE1XqNoL @MLB @RobManfred pic.twitter.com/ZByDaN7Wmf
— B'nai B'rith Int'l (@BnaiBrith) January 31, 2020
In the letter B’nai B’rith specifically noted Waters’s continuous support for the movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a non-profit activist organisation that promotes various forms of boycotts against Israel until the country meets its obligations under international law – ending what it calls the occupation of Palestinian lands and dismantling the West Bank barrier.
In response, MLB dropped commercials promoting the musician’s latest tour and said "there are no plans to schedule more ads".
The artist has not responded for a comment.
Waters, who has been frequently targeted by Jewish organisations for his political views on Israel, in particular the so-called occupation and colonisation of Palestinian territories following the Six-Day War in 1967, has long refuted accusations of being anti-Semitic.
In an open letter written in 2013 and posted on his Facebook account following an accusation by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the musician said his criticism of the Israeli government's policies has nothing to do with discrimination against Jews.
"To peacefully protest against Israel’s racist domestic and foreign policies is NOT ANTI-SEMITIC. I have two grandsons who, I love more than life itself, their Mother, my daughter in law, is Jewish and so, in consequence, I’m told, are they. I was brought up in post war England where I received the most thorough education on the subject of Nazism and where I was spared no horrific detail of the heinous crimes committed in the name of that most foul ideology. I remember my mother’s friends Claudette and Maria, I remember their tattoos, they were survivors, two of the lucky ones”, Waters wrote in the letter.
