In Cologne, an alliance demonstrated against a concert by Roger Waters. The musician’s most recent statements are “tasteless, subtle, historically spurious and antisemitic,” said Cologne city dean Robert Kleine on Monday. The evangelical superintendent Bernhard Seiger also condemned the planned concert. Seiger warned of an antisemitism that was slowly becoming socially acceptable again. Waters is scheduled to perform in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena on Tuesday as part of his Germany tour.
The British are accused of anti-Semitism. Every concert visitor should ask themselves how to deal with the musician’s statements, said Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker (independent) in front of the Cologne Cathedral. “As far as anti-Semitism is concerned, there can be no other interest than fighting it.”
The Cologne concert is Waters’ second in Germany this year. The artist performed in Hamburg on Sunday evening. The concert planned for May 28 in Frankfurt also triggered major debates. Waters had filed a lawsuit against the cancellation of the performance there by the organizer, and was right. The Jewish community in Frankfurt announced a demonstration on Monday for the day of the concert.
The vice-president of the Central Council of Jews, Abraham Lehrer, said in Cologne that Waters was not allowed to invoke the Basic Law to proclaim his “dirty slogans”. Human dignity comes before freedom of art and expression. A concert like this should not be repeated. He also clearly criticized the concert promoter who rented the Lanxess Arena. In a statement, the company said it had known nothing about the artist’s political views a year and a half ago. “This is so ridiculous that I feel really screwed,” said teacher.
Waters has for many years been a prominent supporter of the anti-Israel boycott movement BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). The President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, compared the movement to a chameleon. “This BDS seems so harmless,” he said. However, the objective is the same as that of terrorist organizations: “to sweep Israel off the map”.
The synagogue community in Cologne, the German-Israeli Society, the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, and the Catholic and Protestant churches are all involved in the protest alliance. The call is supported by the Greens, CDU, FDP, SPD, Left and Volt parties.
