Former Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has defended his decision to beam a Star of David symbol onto a flying inflatable pig at a recent concert, insisting there is no anti-semitic intent behind his art.
The rocker, who called for a boycott of Israel earlier this year, came under fire from Jewish groups and the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles when a fan posted footage of the moment Waters flashed the Israeli symbol on his porcine stage prop during a The Wall Live Tour concert in Belgium online.
Simon Wiesenthal Center official Rabbi Abraham Cooper responded by stating Waters is "an open hater of Jews" and urged other artists to "denounce his anti-semitism and bigotry".
Waters has since taken to his Facebook page to fight back, and in an open letter he writes, "I also use the Crucifix, the Crescent and Star, the Hammer and Sickle, the Shell Oil Logo and The McDonald's Sign, a Dollar Sign and a Mercedes sign (in the show)..." and points out his circle of friends include Wiesenthal's nephew and his daughter-in-law.
He also takes aim at Israeli policies in his online rant, stating, "In a functioning theocracy it is almost inevitable that the symbol of the religion becomes confused with the symbol of the state, in this case the State of Israel, a state that operates Apartheid both within its own borders and also in the territories it has occupied and colonized since 1967."
