COUNCILLOR AND RABBI CALLS FOR ROGER WATERS’ AO ARENA SHOW TO BE CANCELLED AMID ROW OVER ‘ANTISEMITISM’

A senior councillor and rabbi has called for a concert by Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters at the AO Arena on Saturday to be cancelled amid the international furore over claims the musician is sharing antisemetic views at his shows.

Coun Arnie Saunders has sent an open letter to arena bosses appealing for the gig to be stopped on the grounds that the venue is only two miles from his Kersal and Broughton ward in Salford which has the highest percentage of Jewish voters in the country – 41.5 per cent, according to the 2021 census.

Rock icon Waters has already drawn criticism from Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer has ‘fully condemned’ him for having ‘clearly espoused antisemitic views’.

Sir Kier has also suggested shows by the former Pink Floyd bassist should be called off – a view echoed by Bury South MP Christian Wakeford.

Coun Saunders wrote:

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“I am a councillor and also a practising community rabbi and am very involved in inter-faith activity in the local community.

“I am writing this open email to ask you – as have many others – if, even at this late stage, you would cancel the Roger Waters Concert on Saturday. 

“I am sure you don’t need me to tell you what has taken place at previous concerts in the past and indeed on this current tour.

“Should this not be possible, could I urge you – at the very least – to ensure that nothing takes place that could incite antisemitism? 

“I feel that the AO Arena should be in the forefront of promoting inclusivity and tolerance – given that the arena was itself a victim of a terrorist attack that shocked the nation a mere six years ago. It should be a sanctuary and shrine to multi-cultural co-existence and tolerance.

“I should point out that local politicians, religious and community leaders are rightly proud of the excellent relations that exist between different faiths, cultures and communities.

“You may well recall the iconic photograph of the Jewish lady, the late Renee Black and her Muslim friend Sadiq Patel weeping and praying together in the aftermath of the attack.”

 

Coun Saunders has been backed by Worsley and Eccles South MP Barbara Keeley.

In a response to him, she wrote:

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“I share your concerns about this. His actions and comments are completely unacceptable and are antisemitic. I understand the upset which this is causing in the Jewish communities in  Salford, Manchester and across the country. 

“I have now written to Jen Mitchell, general manager of the AO Arena, about the issues you have raised. “

 

Meanwhile, during business questions in the House of Commons, Mr Wakeford said:

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“The city of Manchester has a rich and vibrant history in which those of different faiths and backgrounds have lived together as well as stood together through difficult times and times of division.

“So I am concerned to note Roger Waters is due to play at the AO Arena in Manchester.”

 

In a video posted on YouTube, Roger Waters has responded by saying:

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“Some f***ing Labour MP in Manchester, Christian Wakeford…you are trying to get me banned from performing in Manchester. Me, the block wrote Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and Animals and the Wall and the Final Cut.

“And I’m really proud of it and it’s a huge body of work. And he wants to cancel my rock and roll show for my bothers and sisters in Manchester, it’s insane.

“If we shout the lie loud enough ‘Roger Waters is an antisemite’, we’ll be all right, we’ll get people to believe it, we can vilify him, we can probably destroy him and we will get him in the end.

“Well, no you won’t because it is a lie. You can gather as many f***ing morons as you want to repeat you lie, but it remains a vicious lie.”

 

Waters says the narrative that he’s an antisemite and that he’s promoting fascism by wearing a leather coat and carrying symbols ‘which are crossed hammers, by the way, not swastikas, or anything that is literally Nazi Third Reich German’ is incorrect.

He says he’s been doing it for 40 years since 1980 and now ‘I’ve been doing bits of that show’.

He said.

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“Why now suddenly would people be picking up and going ‘he’s wearing a replica of a Nazi uniform on stage, he’s obviously, glorifying the Third Reich and Nazism, he’s doing that as part of his general attitude which is that he hates Jewish people,”

He continued:

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“How you can transmogrify [in his piece The Wall]  this work of theatre into me glorifying the Third Reich and Nazism beggars belief.

“Don’t get me wrong, I may be shouting and I may seem powerful or whatever, but I’m still really upset. I can’t believe that they’re trying to do this to me.”

 

The AO Arena has been contacted for comment.