A few years ago, I wrote how Kiss frontman Gene Simmons said racists should be publicly shamed and fired from their jobs.
‘Identify them, make their lives miserable – legally. Shine the light on that cockroach.
As I wrote at the time:
This is actually similar to the philosophy and motivation behind my posts exposing the antisemitic social media posts of Jew-haters. I believe strongly in fighting legally against such hatred, and helping these haters understand their actions can have consequences.
I am way more in support of fighting back this way than simply censoring such people. Hoist them on their own petard.
This does not contradict my opposition to what I perceive as a ‘cancel culture’, which targets people whose views you don’t like or who may have posted something offensive in the past, which they now regret. If someone is regularly and unrepentantly going after Jews, I believe in fighting back. And that means letting the world know about them.
I’m happy to see Gene gets it.
Fast forward to now, and it seems Gene does not truly get it.
“Well, first of all, [Roger Waters is] a very talented guy. He’s written some of the most wonderful music, along with [the rest of Pink] Floyd many, many decades [ago]. And it’s obviously held up, and he’s got lots of fans.”
“There is something to be said for keeping your political and other beliefs off the stage. His choice is to use the stage as a platform to further his point of view. There is a difference between a political statement about Israel and about antisemitism. By the way, anti-Semitism also involves Arabs; the definition of a Semite includes the Arab world.
I think he’s a well-meaning guy. I don’t agree with his point of view, of course… I think he is, from my point of view, inflamed, angry about the political situation — as we all are.”
“The best way to have a discussion or even an argument is find common ground. And then get into the diversions of what you think. So what we agree with — and I’m Israeli and Jewish. My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, and so on and so forth. I’m not saying this to get your heart pumping…
We agree there absolutely should be an Arab state, Palestine — no question about it. It should exist side by side with Israel. There should be free flow of information and commerce and so on. Okay, so it doesn’t exist now. Let’s work together to try to make it happen. So what’s the problem?”
Gene’s comments are way off the mark and, worse than that, provide Waters with a potential alibi against the very valid allegations of antisemitism: he can now point to Gene, who is pro-Israel and anti-BDS – and say “Even Gene Simmons acknowledges I only engage in valid criticism of Israel and am not antisemitic.” Not just that, but anyone on the fence about it might now tend to see Waters as being well intentioned and not antisemitic.
Gene’s statement that “there is a difference between a political statement about Israel and about anti-Semitism” may be true, but it is entirely not applicable to Roger Waters, who goes well beyond mere political statements about Israel into antisemitism territory.
His statement that “antisemitism also involves Arabs; the definition of a Semite includes the Arab world” is not just irrelevant (the term specifically means “Jew-hatred”) but is a common retort of real-life Jew-haters to allegations of antisemitism against them.
Gene might think Waters is “a well-meaning guy”, but the evidence shows the exact opposite: he is a dishonest person who blatantly lies in order to demonize Jews and the Jewish state.
Perhaps in general the “best way to have a discussion or even an argument is find common ground”, but there is no common ground to be found with Waters. Waters does not agree with Simmons that “We agree “there absolutely should be an Arab state, Palestine,” existing “side by side with Israel.” Waters believes there should be an Arab state, Palestine, existing side by side with more of an Arab state, Palestine, and Israel wiped out of existence.
I truly hope Gene recants this defense of Roger Waters and shines a light on him the way he says we should shine a light on other racists and antisemites.
