Roger Waters finds himself in hot water over his recent Berlin concert – for dressing like a Nazi.
Berlin police have launched a criminal investigation into Roger Waters for suspected incitement after he appeared to dress as a Nazi during a concert in Berlin last month.
“The context of the clothing worn is deemed capable of approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime in a manner that violates the dignity of the victims and thereby disrupts public peace,” said police chief inspector Martin Halweg, according to a Jewish News UK report.
Germany has strict laws against incitement to racial hatred, a reaction to the country’s Nazi past.
Waters at times dons a uniform resembling SS garb, with a long black jacket, black gloves and a red armband, and symbolically shoots a gun into the crowd during the shows. He reportedly did so at a May 17 concert in Berlin.
This might surprise some of you, but I think it is a mistake to do so – at least on this basis.
Clearly, when Waters wears the Nazi-like costume, he is not approving, glorifying or justifying the violent and arbitrary rule of the Nazi regime. He is very outspoken against it.
Waters has already latched on to the intention to prosecute him over this, characterizing it as part of “bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence” him over his politics.
It is no secret that I believe Roger Waters to be a Jew-hater, as I have explained on here countless times. In fact, a few days ago, I was one of those to show the antisemitism in his Berlin concerts, which included comparing our supposed treatment of palestinian Arabs with the Nazi treatment of Jews (as manifest by his comparison of Shireen Abu Akleh with Anne Frank), and employment of antisemitic “dog whistles.” I did not mention the Nazi uniform because it is clearly meant as parody.
When Waters refers to “bad faith attacks”, he is no doubt lumping in these valid criticisms. So when German police announced their intention to prosecute him over a clear parody, it plays in to his hands in suggesting he is being silenced just because of his politics, and not over his real antisemitism.
Thus I fully support German police investigating him over the actual incitement against Jews, namely the Holocaust comparisons and antisemitic “dog whistles,” and not over something ridiculous like his costume, which is clearly not meant to incite but rather mock fascism.
This is not the only time I have seen people attack Waters over his Jew-hatred but throw in something not relevant or true. For instance, well-intentioned Labour MP Christian Wakeford (and many others) mentioned his pig with the Star of David at the Berlin concerts:
While Waters did utilize the giant pig, it did not display the Star of David, but rather the logo of the Israeli armaments company “Elbit Systems.” (he has not displayed the Star of David for a long time). This kind of inaccuracy serves to play into Waters’ hands.
In pointing out Jew hatred, whether from Waters or anyone else, we need to be more precise. While our emotions can understandably run high, it is important we take some deep breaths and zero in on relevant, accurate things. We cannot let these haters off the hook because we got sloppy.
