Jews protest against Waters concert

BERLIN

Several Jewish groups, politicians and an alliance of civil society groups gathered for a memorial ceremony and a protest rally against a concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt on May 28 evening.

They accuse the Pink Floyd co-founder of antisemitism - an allegation he denies. Waters has also drawn their ire for his support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.

Frankfurt authorities had initially tried to prevent the concert taking place, but Waters successfully challenged the move in a local court.

The concert is taking place in the city’s Festhalle, where in November 1938 more than 3,000 Jews were rounded up by the Nazis, beaten and abused, and later deported to concentration camps.

“Against this historical background, the concert should not have taken place under any circumstances,” said Sacha Stawski, a member of the Frankfurt Jewish community and head of the group Honestly Concerned, that helped organize the protests.

“It’s very frustrating” that the concert is going ahead as scheduled even though Frankfurt officials and many others tried to prevent it, Elio Adler, the head of the Jewish group WerteInitiative which supports the protest, told The Associated Press.

“His words and imagery spread Jew-hatred and are part of a trend: to normalize Israel-hatred under the protection of freedom of speech or art,” Adler added.

During Sunday’s ceremony and protests, which took place in front of the Frankfurt concert venue before Waters’ concert was set to begin, protesters read out loud the names of 600 Jews who were rounded up at the Festhalle on Nov. 9, 1939, the so-called Kristallnacht - the “Night of Broken Glass” - when Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

The organizers also held a joint Jewish-Christian prayer for the victims of the Nazi terror in Frankfurt. The city’s mayor as well as the head of the local Jewish community spoke at the protest.

“Hatred of Jews is to be condemned everywhere in our city,” Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef said, according to German news agency dpa. “There is no reason to hate, insult and attack a person because of his religion.”