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 Waters, part of one of the world's most
critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock bands from
1965-85 before going solo, is a member of the Palestinian-led
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) that targets
Israel over its occupation of territories where Palestinians
seek statehood.
Five state television and radio affiliates of the national ARD
network have pulled out of broadcasting concerts by the
74-year-old Waters in Berlin and Cologne scheduled next summer
"in reaction to anti-Semitism accusations against him", Berlin
and Brandenburg public radio (RBB) said.
RBB, part of the ARD network, said it wanted to send a message
to other artists who, heeding the BDS, refuse to perform in
Israel. Waters joined the movement in 2011.
"Taking a clear position here is an important signal for RBB to
the Jewish communities in Berlin and Brandenburg," RBB director
Patricia Schlesinger said in a statement.
"The quick and decisive reaction by the broadcasters ...is an
important signal that rampant anti-Semitism against Israel `has
no place in Germany," said Josef Schuster, president of The
Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Marek Lieberberg, Waters' tour director, said that German Jews
were right to be concerned about "clearly visible and growing
anti-Semitism" in Germany - alluding to the far right's surge in
recent German elections - but that the broadcasters' decision
was "absolutely ridiculous".
[to top of second column] |
 Lieberberg, the son of Holocaust survivors,
told the Mannheimer Morgen daily that while he rejected the BDS,
he separates personal opinions from work. "I cannot and do not
want to deny (Waters) his right to freedom of opinion," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing
government has long campaigned against the BDS, describing it as
anti-Semitic and an attempt to erase Israel's legitimacy.
The movement, launched in 2005 as a non-violent campaign to
press Israel to heed international law and end its occupation of
territory held since a 1967 war, has gathered momentum in recent
years even if its economic impact remains negligible.
Germany has long sought to distance itself from the horrors of
the Nazi Holocaust and become one of Israel's closest allies.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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