Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters has been accused of anti-Semitism because of symbolism used in the stage show for his current 30th anniversary tour of the classic 1979 album 'The Wall'.
In the live show, during the performance of 'Goodbye Blue Sky', an animation is projected which depicts a B52 bomber dropping symbols including the Star of David, a dollar sign, a crucifix and logos for Shell and Mercedes, as well as several other religious and corporate symbols. Now, American-Jewish rights agency the Anti-Defamation League are claiming that the show is anti-Semetic as the Star of David is directly followed by the dollar sign, which they interpret as the age old stereotype of associating Jews with money.
A public statement said, "It is outrageous that Roger Waters has chosen to use the juxtaposition of a Jewish Star of David with the symbol of dollar signs."
"While he insists that his intent was to criticise Israel's West Bank security fence, the use of such imagery in a concert setting seems to leave the message open to interpretation, and the meaning could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money."
"Of course, Waters has every right to express his political views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through his music and stagecraft. However, the images he has chosen, when put together in the same sequence, cross a line into anti-Semitism."
However, Waters has hit back at these accusations, emphasising that he chose to use these symbols as they were "representative of religious and national and commercial interests, all of which have a malign influence on our lives and prevent us from treating each other decently".
He also maintains that "You can attack Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish. It's (Israel's) foreign policy I'm against. It's nothing to do with the religion."
