[lbo-talk] Pink Floyd's Roger Waters urges Israel to 'tear down the wall' (concert live on radio and internet)

Bryan Atinsky bryan at alt-info.org
Thu Jun 22 09:16:10 PDT 2006


There has been a diplomatic push to bring big name concerts and also movie stars to Israel of late, to show the world how great Israel is and how there is no boycott etc...most have come without any thought of the political implications or even as an explicit backing of Israel. Captain Kirk, Jim Carrey, mr. fresh prince Will Smith, Sharon Stone, come to mind of recent, and then Black Eyed Peas, Sting, Depeche Mode, 50 Cent...etc...

Though I haven't really listened to Pink Floyd since high school, at least Roger Waters is reacting to the political implications of his visit. Upon arrival here, he went to a trip to see the Segregation Wall, and spoke out against it, visited into the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and his concert will take place at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (Oasis of Peace), A village, jointly established by Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, that is engaged in educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples... http://nswas.org/rubrique22.html

You can listen to the concert on Israel radio 88fm...it starts between 20:00 and 21:00 Jerusalem time. 20:00 is 13:00 Eastern US time...

here (sadly it works, I think, only in M$ Explorer): http://media.iba.org.il/ or http://media.iba.org.il/?getLive=12 and http://media.iba.org.il/?type=radioLive&mediaUrl=http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20040704_IBA_Popup/iba_audio.asp?ai=31ANDSIGNar=Reshet_Bet&site_desc=???%20?%60%20*br*Bet

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters urges Israel to 'tear down the wall' By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/729817.html

Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who inspired the rock band's iconic album "The Wall," scrawled "tear down the wall" on the concrete panels of Israel's West Bank barrier on Wednesday.

The barrier was the first stop on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories for Waters, who had been criticized by some fans for planning to play a concert in Israel.

"It's a horrific edifice, this thing," Waters told reporters as he stood beside a section of the barrier in Bethlehem.

"I've seen pictures of it, I've heard a lot about it but without being here you can't imagine how extraordinarily oppressive it is and how sad it is to see these people coming through these little holes," he added. "It's craziness."

Waters added to graffiti with red spray paint and a marker pen. Waters was lyricist, songwriter and singer for Pink Floyd, the former British rock group famous for "The Wall" and "The Dark Side of the Moon".

Israel has built almost half the barrier, which has the stated aim of keeping suicide bombers out of its cities.

Condemned by Palestinians as a land grab, the barrier has been branded illegal by the World Court because it cuts through occupied territory. Israel is rerouting some sections after a Supreme Court order to lessen Palestinian hardship.

Waters is due to perform a concert at the Arab-Jewish coexistence village of Neve Shalom on Thursday as part of his world tour.

The concert was originally planned for a Tel Aviv sports stadium but, following criticism by fans in Britain, Waters changed the location to the peace village, where Israeli Jews and Arabs live in a joint community.

In 1990, Waters performed "The Wall" along the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany to celebrate reunification.

He told reporters he hoped Israel's barrier would also be brought down one day. More than 90 percent of the barrier is razor-tipped fence, but towering concrete walls are used in built-up areas.

"It may be a lot harder to get this one down, but eventually it must happen," Waters said.



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