Roger Waters sparks anti-Semitic backlash after referencing Anne Frank during Berlin performance
Former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters has prompted more backlash after making reference to Anne Frank and the Nazis during one of his recent shows in Germany.
In Berlin last week (May 17th), Waters briefly donned what looked to be an SS uniform and pretended to fire a rifle during part of his set, which comes as part of the ongoing ‘This Is Not A Drill’ tour. This follows Waters becoming embroiled in anti-semitic controversy earlier this year after airing his views on the state of Israel, which saw shows in Frankfurt and Munich cancelled before the decision was overturned.
However, Waters has again prompted controversy by pretending to fire a dummy rifle and showing Anne Frank and Shireen Abu Akleh’s names on a screen above him. The former was the German-born Jewish girl who documented life in hiding under Nazi persecution in her diary, published posthumously in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl. The latter was the celebrated Palestinian journalist who was killed whilst covering a raid by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the Jenin Refugee camp in the West Bank in 2022.
The politically-charged nature of Waters’ Berlin show has been controversial for some, with detractors condemning the display of Anne Frank’s name as “disgraceful”, “vile”, with one commentator on Twitter labelling it “inexcusable display of Jew hatred”.
The Foreign Ministry of Israel wrote on Twitter: “Good morning to every one but Roger Waters who spent the evening in Berlin (Yes Berlin) desecrating the memory of Anne Frank and the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.”
Not everyone agrees on the matter, with some maintaining that Waters does this at all of his shows in an explicitly “anti-fascist” statement.
“He does this every show. The song is satire. Waters and Pink Floyd were criticizing fascism with the song,” one fan said, with another adding: “[It] addresses, criticises & condemns many of the forms of discrimination & racism which exist in our modern world, including anti-Jewish racism… Roger Waters is anti-discrimination!”
Elsewhere, Roger Waters has maintained that he is not an anti-Semite, telling Der Spiegel in March: “I am not an anti-Semite. I have never been an anti-Semite and I will never be one. I have stressed that on many occasions. It is bizarre that my career should now be attacked on the basis of allegations made by the Israel lobby.”
He added: “[Israel] is a state in which a certain group, the Jewish people, have supremacy, and Jewish citizens enjoy rights that are denied to their fellow citizens. The government says so openly.”
This is an ongoing story.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.