Pink Floyd star Roger Waters causes outrage as he compares Israeli government to Nazis in magazine interview



Bassist, 70, said treatment of Palestinians is same as the oppression of Jews during World War Two adding that they are treated as 'sub-human'

Refuses to play in Israel as he 'wouldn't play in occupied France either'



Rabbi blasted 'antisemitic diatribe' as one of worst attacks ever on Jews

Conflict: Roger Waters, 70, has been branded an antisemitic after his comments last week

The former frontman of Pink Floyd has sparked outrage after comparing Israel's government to the Nazi regime.

Leading rabbis and Jewish writers have blasted Roger Waters as antisemitic for claiming the state's treatment of Palestinians is akin to the oppression of Jews between 1933 and 1946.

Waters, 70, who refuses to visit or perform in Israel, said he would not have played in France or Germany during the Second World War either.

'The parallels with what went on in the 1930s in Germany are so crushingly obvious,' he told American magazine Counter Punch last week.

'There were many people that pretended that the oppression of the Jews was not going on. From 1933 until 1946. So this is not a new scenario. Except that this time, it's the Palestinian people being murdered.'

He claimed Palestinians are regarded as 'sub-human', and branded the Israeli rabbinate 'bizarre'.

Enraged, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has hit back at Waters, calling his comments an 'antisemitic diatribe' which outstretches any other attack on Israel and Jews.

Writing in the New York Observer, Rabbi Boteach said: 'Mr Waters, the Nazis were a genocidal regime that murdered six million Jews.



'That you would have the audacity to compare Jews to monsters who murdered them shows you have no decency, you have no heart, you have no soul.'

The conflict comes just months after Waters was forced to explain why he used a pig-shaped balloon decorated with a Star of David on the set of one of his concerts, seen by many to single out Judaism as an evil force.

The singer, a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, rebuffed his critics by claiming it was one of many religious symbols on the stage.

Last night, Waters rejected his critics once again.

It follows outrage earlier this year when a pig balloon marked with a Star of David formed part of Waters' set at a concert. Waters rejected claims it was a message to fans that Judaism is a force of evil

Speaking in New York, he said: ‘I do not know Rabbi Boteach, and am not prepared to get into a slanging match with him. I will say this: I have nothing against Jews or Israelis, and I am not antisemitic.

‘I deplore the policies of the Israeli government in the occupied territories and Gaza. They are immoral, inhuman and illegal. I will continue my non-violent protests as long as the government of Israel continues with these policies.’

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said everyone was ‘entitled to an opinion and to advocate passionately for a cause’.

But she added: ‘Drawing inappropriate parallels with the Holocaust insults the memory of the six million Jews – men, women and children – murdered by the Nazis.