US government slams Roger Waters’ Berlin performance as “deeply offensive to Jewish people”

nme.com:

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters over his recent show in Berlin, describing it as “deeply offensive to Jewish people”.Last month, Waters appeared on stage at his show wearing a black trench coat with a swastika-like emblem during a segment that revolved around a character from Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, who imagines himself as a fictional fascist dictator during a hallucination.The musician claimed that the segment was a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry and called criticism of it “disingenuous and politically motivated”.US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, called the concert “Holocaust distortion” and amplified a tweet denouncing Waters by the European Commission’s coordinator on combating anti-semitism.I wholeheartedly concur with @EUAntisemitism’s condemnation of Roger Waters and his despicable Holocaust distortion.

https://t.co/9gfdH94TZl— Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) May 25, 2023According to Reuters, the State Department supported Lipstadt’s comment and added that Waters’ Berlin concert “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,” in an email.The department went on to add: “The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”Waters has faced significant backlash following the show in Berlin.