A Pink Floyd tribute band has cancelled three performances in Israel after being called out by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters and being pressured by boycott activists, JTA reported on Sunday.
UK Pink Floyd Experience announced early on Sunday its decision to not appear in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Be’er Sheva in shows early next month, hours after Waters posted a letter calling on the group not to.
The band also came under pressure from activists supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, according to JTA. The band members’ cell phone numbers were made public, leading to an avalanche of phone calls which forced them to cancel their phone services, according to reports citing their production company.
The band previously played in Israel in 2017.
Waters, a notorious anti-Israel activist, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday evening, “To sing my songs in front of segregated audiences in Israel, and contribute to the cultural whitewashing of the racist and apartheid government of that country, would be an act of unconscionable malice and disrespect.”
“Have you never actually listened to the work that you perform to make a living? The people you intend to entertain are executing their neighbor’s children, shooting them down in cold blood every day,” he added.
Waters announced in a Facebook post on Sunday that the band had decided to cancel their Israel gigs and thanked the band members for their “prompt response.” He called on other Pink Floyd tribute bands to refrain from performing in Israel.
The former Pink Floyd frontman has in the past 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.
In addition, he has verbally attacked many artists who chose to perform in Israel over the last several years.
His list of targets includes Jon Bon Jovi, Alan Parsons, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Radiohead, Nick Cave and actress Scarlett Johansson.
More recently, Waters was among a group of more than 100 artists who published an open letter calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 which will be held in Israel.
Waters argues that BDS “isn’t about music – it’s about human rights.”
