Jewish Groups Protest Against Roger Waters Concert in Frankfurt

A variety of Jewish groups held a protest rally prior to musician Roger Waters' Frankfurt concert on Sunday, accusing the Pink Floyd co-founder of antisemitism.

Rogers is currently under investigation by Berlin police for appearing on stage earlier this month carrying a fake rifle and wearing a black leather coat with a red armband reminiscent of the garb of an SS officer in Nazi Germany, a costume he says was “quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms."

Local authorities had tried to prevent Rogers' Frankfurt concert from taking place, but the musician was able to successfully challenge the maneuver and keep the date.

Adding to the controversy surrounding the Frankfurt date, the concert is taking place in the city’s Festhalle, which was the site where thousands of Jews were rounded up and deported to concentration camps by Nazis in 1938.

“Against this historical background, the concert should not have taken place under any circumstances,” said Sacha Stawski, a member of the Frankfurt Jewish community and head of the group Honestly Concerned that helped organize the protests told the Associated Press.

“His words and imagery spread Jew-hatred and are part of a trend: to normalize Israel-hatred under the protection of freedom of speech or art,” Elio Adler, the head of the Jewish group WerteInitiative, additionally told the outlet.

Waters made a statement on Twitter Saturday refuting the charges of antisemitism leveled against him. “I have spent my entire life speaking out against authoritarianism and oppression wherever I see it," he noted, adding that he was the victim of a "politically motivated" smear campaign.

The Berlin performance has "attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles," he added.

He stressed that his parents "fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price.”