On July 14, Roger Waters performed in Montreal and spoke at an anti-Israel event called: “Standing Up For Student Solidarity With Palestine,” which was an online event co-sponsored by the suspended McGill University student group, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill, (SPHR) and which was endorsed by Samidoun, a Canadian not-for-profit organization with alleged ties to the PFLP terror group.
Rogers participated in this event in support of SPHR which was suspended by the McGill student government for 105 days after they mocked and allegedly harassed McGill’s Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) for refusing to ratify a new anti-Israel policy.
Roger Waters is an outspoken anti-Israel activist and BDS supporter who has been accused of antisemitism previously. He took centre stage in this online event by uttering baseless and hateful allegations against Israel and the Jewish people.
Watch and listen as we break down what he said:
The event was covered by La Presse, Le Soleil and La Voix de l’Est. It was also mentioned in a Globe and Mail article. All news outlets failed to adequately cover the inflammatory comments that Waters made against Israel and the Jewish people.
To wit:
- There’s no truth to the accusation that Hayarkon Park is “Built on Palestinian dead people.”
- There was no “massacre” in Jenin in 2002. The Israeli Defense Forces carried out Operation Defensive Shield after wave after wave of suicide bombers originated from the Jenin refugee camps in months prior, killing hundreds of Israelis. In a pinpoint defensive operation, Israeli forces risked their lives by entering this raven’s nest full of terrorists to prevent further attacks on Israeli citizens. The final death toll saw 56 Palestinians dead, the majority of whom were combatants, along with 23 Israeli soldiers.
- Waters’ attempt to draw sympathy for the efforts of Palestinian suicide terrorists is morally repugnant.
- His claim that there is a “fascist” system of “Jewish supremacy” within Israel ignores that two million+ Israeli-Arabs have full and democratic right alongside the Jewish majority in Israel. Israeli Arabs can vote and be elected to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. They have served on Israel’s supreme court, and are active in business, diplomacy, media and more within Israel. Clearly, then, Waters’ attempted portrayal of Israel as being under a “system of Jewish supremacy” is fanciful, and based in nothing more than ideology, not facts.
- Comparing Israeli polices to the Nazis by insinuating that Israel is carrying out a “Holocaust” of Palestinians is antisemitic according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
- Saying that Israel was founded by “settler colonialists” denies 3,000 years of Jewish indigeneity.
- His claim that wealthy donors put pressure on McGill University to oppose pro-Palestinian policies a) has not been substantiated and b) insinuates that wealthy pro-Israel donors, Jews implied, control McGill University. This reeks of the antisemitic trope and conspiracy theory from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Roger Waters, made famous from his band Pink Floyd, was given an undue platform to spread disinformation, lies and to make unsubstantiated allegations, which has the potential to fan the flames of hatred towards Jewish Canadians, who continue to be disproportionately the victims of hate crimes in Canada.
Enough is enough. Roger Waters deserves to be named and shamed for his toxic and hateful anti-Israel efforts. Share our video now to spread the word.
