Roger Waters, formerly of the Pink Floyd band, on Saturday criticized actress Scarlett Johansson and Canadian musician Neil Young for their refusal to boycott Israel.
Writing on his Facebook page, Waters criticized both Johansson for stepping down as an ambassador for Oxfam due to the group’s support for a boycott of Israel, and Young for his show in Israel this coming July.
Waters has previously faced criticism for virulently anti-Israel statements and for using anti-Israel and anti-Jewish imagery in his shows.
The singer-songwriter wrote that he had sent both Young and Johansson private letters but that they had not responded, going on to say he was “confused” about Young, who was “always one of my heroes,” coming to Israel.
Waters added that Johansson’s “choice of Soda Stream over Oxfam is such an act of intellectual, political, and civil about face, that we, all those of us who care about the downtrodden, the oppressed, the occupied, the second class, will find it hard to rationalize.”
He directed most of his critical post at Johansson, asking her, “Are you aware that the Israeli government has razed to the ground a Bedouin village in the Negev desert in Southern Israel 63 times, the last time being on the 26th of December 2013. This village is the home to Bedouin. The Bedouin are, of course, Israeli citizens with full rights of citizenship. Well, not quite full rights, because in ‘Democratic’ Israel there are fifty laws that discriminate against non Jewish citizens.”
Waters then took issue with Johansson’s refusal to back down from an advertising campaign for SodaStream, an Israeli company with a factory in Ma’ale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb located over the 1949 armistice lines.
He claimed that the Palestinian Arab workers in the factory do not enjoy equal pay, benefits and rights, taking issue with the fact that they are not Israeli citizens and ignoring the fact that they reside in the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria and not in Israel proper.
Those organizations and individuals which continuously call for boycotts of products and businesses in Judea and Samaria ignore the fact that such boycotts will hurt thousands of Palestinian Arabs who are employed by these businesses and receive much better wages than they would if they worked for PA-owned businesses.
“Scarlett, you are undeniably cute, but if you think Soda Stream is building bridges towards peace you are also undeniably not paying attention,” concluded Waters.
In December, Waters compared Israel to Nazi Germany, saying in an interview, “The situation in Israel/Palestine, with the occupation, the ethnic cleansing and the systematic racist apartheid Israeli regime is unacceptable.”
He previously released a giant balloon pig bearing the Star of David during a concert in Belgium. Concert-goers said the Jewish star was among several symbols representing various corporations and fascist movements.
Waters has also falsely testified to the UN that Hamas “is open to permanent peace with Israel” – a direct contradiction of Hamas’ own statements.
