The Simon Wiesenthal Center is joining 14 leading Jewish organizations from around the world in an openletter calling on Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and its CEO Thomas Coesfeld to reconsider its business relationship with Pink Floyd front man and anti-Israel zealot RogerWaters.
The letter, coordinated by Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a non-profit entertainment industryorganization, comes in response to Waters’ recent concerts in Germany where he performed in a Nazi-like uniform and compared Palestinian-American Shireen Abu Aqleh journalist to AnneFrank.
The letter, read in part, “In response to this most recent incident, the EU Commission Coordinator onCombating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life and the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, both loudly condemned Mr. Waters.
The US State Department also stated that Waters recent concert "contained imagery deeply offensive toJewish people and minimized the Holocaust." The State Department added that, “The artist in question has a long track record of using anti-Semitic tropes to denigrate. Jewish people.Unfortunately, the State Department is 100% correct, as this is just the latest in a long list. of troubling antisemitic incidents by Mr. Waters…. All of this has happened at a time whenantisemitic incidents are rising at alarming rates around the world.”
For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com orShawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitterfeed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members.It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).
