Simon Wiesenthal Center Applauds BMG Group for Making a Principled Strand on Roger Waters’ Antisemitism

January 31, 2024

Today, the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement in support of the BMG Group’s decision to sever its business ties with Roger Waters on account of the musician’s long-term history of anti-Semitism.

“Antisemitism comes in my flavors; Roger Waters embodies nearly all of them: an obsession with the supposed evils of only one country; Israel, a persistent belief that this one country is the root of all the world’s evil, a belief that Israel and the Jewish community control the governments of the UK and the US, and his continued, obsessive twisting of Holocaust imagery.  Roger Waters has the unique distinction of promoting nearly every ancient and modern hatred against Israel and the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda.

In severing its relations with Waters, Cooper commended BMG group for taking a principled stand against hate.  “Make no mistake. Roger Waters is not defending the Palestinian cause, but rather, using Palestinians as a thin shield to pursue his obsessive hatred of Israel and Jews.  We commend BMG Group and hope other institutions will take similarly principled stands in recognizing the difference between advocacy and hate. The only way anti-Semitism will recede is when anti-Semites, like Roger Waters are held accountable for their hate.”

For further information contact the Center’s Communications department at pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).