ex-Pink Floyd Roger Waters responds to those who accuse him of sporting an SS uniform

Ex-Pink Floyd Roger Waters accused his detractors of “bad faith” after the announcement of the opening of an investigation by the German police after a controversial concert in Berlin. The singer and composer notably sported an outfit evoking an SS officer and used the name of Anne Frank, the young German Jew died in the extermination camp.

“My recent concert in Berlin generated bad faith attacks from those who want to silence me because they disagree with my political views.“, reacted Roger Waters in a message published Friday, May 26 on his Instagram and Twitter accounts. “The aspects of my concert that have been questioned are clearly a message against fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms.“and any attempt to see something else in it”is dishonest“, he added.

Suspected of incitement to hatred

The Berlin police had announced on Friday the opening of an investigation, after complaints, “on suspicion of incitement to hatred, as the clothing worn on stage is likely to glorify or justify the National Socialist regime and disturb public order“, according to a spokesperson. On the images of the concert broadcast on social networks, the singer appears dressed in a long black coat marked with a symbol reminiscent of the swastika and red armbands. Several media have also mentioned inscriptions in red letters on a screen during the show, the names of Anne Frank and Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian-American star journalist for the Al Jazeera channel killed in an Israeli raid in May 2022.

“Unfortunately, the legal proceedings against him have so far turned in his favor, although he propagates anti-Semitism and is suspected of incitement to hatred“, reacted on Saturday May 27 the delegate of the German government for the fight against anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, to the newspapers of the Funke group. But “I appeal to the vigilance of the police and justice and I encourage other denunciations“, he added.

Frankfurt authorities tried to cancel a concert

The Berlin concert drew strong criticism in Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs thus criticized Roger Waters, Wednesday, May 24, for having “sullied the memory of Anne Frank and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust“.”Waters wants to compare Israel to the Nazis“. He is “one of the greatest detractors of the Jews of our time“, reacted on Twitter the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.

The ex-Pink Floyd, 79, has distinguished himself in recent years by taking a stand, in particular on the war in Ukraine. “It is not true that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked”, he notably launched on February 8 before the UN Security Council, where he had been invited by Russia to speak. He also defends actions to boycott Israeli products in the name of defending the Palestinian cause.

Frankfurt authorities canceled a concert by the British singer on Sunday May 28, but the decision was overturned by an administrative court in the name of freedom of expression. A demonstration against the arrival of Roger Waters in the city is planned at the call of the local Jewish community and the Greens party, in particular. “Concert organizers should think twice before offering a stage to conspiracy theorists“, judged for his part the German government official.