Opinion Editorials, December 2013

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, December 23, 2013

This is a clear attempt to to elaborate on the truth while being entertaining.

This talk was given by Gilad Atzmon at the 'Seek Speak Spread Truth' conference (London 22.11.2013)

Thy Sycophantic Palestinian Solidarity Movement

By Gilad Atzmon

In the Palestinian Solidarity Movement we really love celebrities – those famous, rather special people who write great books, play musical instruments  (drums included) or even just think great thoughts. We like those people to stand up for Palestine and denounce ‘Zionism’, ‘Israeli Colonialism’ and ‘Apartheid.’  We love them  - as long as they don’t say what they really think. 

Here’s the problem. Celebrities are often famous and successful because they’re clever and independent. Unlike our  progressive, dysfunctional activists, who in most cases lives on income support and repeat our ‘party line’, the celebrity is a confident, career-oriented, self-sufficient subject and, because of their capacity to make autonomous decisions, he or she is assertive and thriving . In short, the activist and the celebrity are made of very different stuff – so a collision is inevitable.

Time after time it happens to us in the Palestinian Solidarity Movement. We manage to pull in a great human being, we tell them what to say and they comply. For a while, they call to boycott Israel and, like parrots, they repeat our slogans. But then, against all odds, these damn, self-centred stars start to speak their minds.

Roger Waters is obviously such a celebrity. For the last two years we were so proud of our Pink Floyd comrade rallying for Palestine. For a while, he repeated our slogans, denouncing colonialism and Israeli Apartheid. But then, the inevitable happened.  For no obvious reason he told the truth. In an interview on Counterpunch he equated Israel with Nazi Germany and, speaking about Jewish power, he even mentioned the ‘J word’.

Within hours, all hell broke loose. Every Jewish media outlet, including The Guardian unleashed its venom in order to bring Roger to his knees. Rabbis, Holocaust memory merchants and even artists were recruited to join the choir. But guess what? Not one single Palestinian activist stood up for Waters. Neither Electronic Intifada nor Jewish progressive Mondoweiss supported the legendary bassist. Their silence was deafening.  The progressive, Cohen Blumenthal also didn’t show any support for the truth teller. Is this a coincidence?

Our sycophantic Solidarity Movement dropped Roger Waters like a stone as we’ve done so many times before because, in our little progressive ghetto, we love celebrities - but not when speak their minds or tell the truth. 

Roger Waters Tells The Truth Against All Odds

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/roger-waters-tells-the-truth-against-all-odds.html

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: The Jewish hate-site algemeiner.com latest target is veteran rocker Roger Waters.  His crime? He has told the truth about Jewish power and has compared Israel with Nazi Germany. Specifically, in a recent interview Waters dared to refer to the mighty Jewish Lobby and its impact silencing opposition to the Jewish State.

It goes without saying that the Israelis and their tribal operators are not happy with Waters exercising his freedom to think and to speak but I have a feeling that BDS movement, now totally dominated by liberal Zionists and funded by George Soros’ Open Society, is also slightly embarrassed by Waters’ frankness.

In the last few years, BDS Movement has invested a lot of energy concealing the truth regarding the Jewish State and curtailing any criticism of it. So, I ask myself, will Ali Abunimah, Joseph Massad and  Omar Barghouti, once again bow to Jewish pressure and call for the disavowal of the Pink Floyd hero? Will Abunimah advise Waters that whenever he wants to say the J word, he should instead say ‘Zionist’. Let’s hope not.

Yet, one question remains: How is it possible that a rocker and a jazz artist are exploring those truths that prominent Palestinian activists are not even brave enough to contemplate? I guess that as long as activism is in a state of utter paralysis, the search for beauty is the only true liberation.

End

http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/08/days-after-defending-star-of-david-pig-roger-waters-laments-power-of-jewish-lobby-compares-israeli-policy-to-nazi-genocide/

Algemeiner.com: Days After Defending Star of David Pig, Roger Waters Laments ‘Power’ of ‘Jewish Lobby,’ Compares Israeli Policy to Nazis

Just days after defending his use of an inflatable pig emblazoned with a Star of David as a concert prop, rock star Roger Waters lamented the “power” of “the Jewish lobby,” and compared Israeli government policy to that of the Nazis, in an interview with CounterPunch magazine.

In the interview conducted by anti-Israel activist, Frank Barat, the former Pink Floyd bassist was frank about his opinions on Jews and Israel.

Asked why he was the only high profile celebrity to have joined the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, Waters explained that it was because people fear “the Jewish lobby.”

“This has been a very hard sell particularly where I live in the United States of America,” he said. “The Jewish lobby is extraordinary powerful here and particularly in the industry that I work in, the music industry and in rock’n roll as they say. I promise you, naming no names, I’ve spoken to people who are terrified that if they stand shoulder to shoulder with me they are going to get f*****.”

Accusing Israel of all manner of heinous crimes, Waters went on to draw parallels between Israeli policy and Nazi genocide.

“The situation in Israel/Palestine, with the occupation, the ethnic cleansing and the systematic racist apartheid Israeli regime is unacceptable,” he said.

Referring to Israel’s “right wing rabbinate,” Waters said “they believe that everybody that is not a Jew is only on earth to serve them and they believe that the Indigenous people of the region that they kicked off the land in 1948 and have continued to kick off the land ever since are sub-human. The parallels with what went on in the 30’s in Germany are so crushingly obvious that it doesn’t surprise me that the movement that both you and I are involved in is growing every day.”

Waters also described Israel’s concern over Iran’s nuclear program as a “diversionary tactic,” and claimed that Israel has never desired to make peace with the Arabs. “They’ve always had the Ben Gurion agenda of kicking all the Arabs out of the country and becoming greater Israel,” he said.

Waters said that he had been invited to preform in Israel by a top Israeli promoter, and admitted to having sent a letter to pop icon, Cindy Lauper, requesting that she cancel an upcoming performance in Israel.

“You know that Shuki Weiss (preeminent Israeli promoter) was offering me a hundred thousand people at hundred dollars a ticket a few months ago to come and play in Tel Aviv! ‘Hang on, that’s 10 million dollars’, how could they offer it to me?! And I thought Shuki are you f****** deaf or just dumb?! I am part of the BDS movement, I’m not going anywhere in Israel, for any money, all I would be doing would be legitimizing the policies of the government,” he said.

In July this year, Waters caused a stir when it was revealed that an inflatable pig released as a concert prop at his performances featured a Star of David. At the time, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, described Waters as “an open hater of Jews.”

Responding to his latest remarks, Rabbi Cooper again described Waters as a “bigot.”

“We raised the alarm when Waters put a Star of David on a pig during his European tour. Now with this interview he confirms his status as one of the most virulent haters of the Jewish state. Apartheid, racist, murderers compared to Nazis,” Cooper said in an email to The Algemeiner.

“The Wiesenthal Center calls on his peers in the entertainment world to condemn him and to show through their continued visits to Israel that they share our contempt for this bigot,” he added.

Last week, following the conclusion of his three-year world tour for “The Wall,” Waters addressed the criticism he had faced over the use of the Star of David pig at his concerts.

“I worry about it every day. It’s a huge concern to me that I would be considered to be a bully,” Waters said about the accusations.

“Since then, because of the complaints from some of the Jewish community, we’ve added a crucifix and star-crescent,” he added.

In August, Waters’ active promotion of the anti-Israel boycott promoted a sharp response from Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli whose image was being used in his concert performances.

“Roger Waters, you should remove my picture from videos at your concerts. If you’re going to boycott, then go all the way,” she tweeted.

According to the United States Department of State, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” is considered anti-Semitic.

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editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org