A long black coat and a red armband evoking the outfit of an SS officer. This is what Roger Waters, former member of the group Pink-Floyd, wore at a concert in Berlin on May 17. German police spokesman Martin Halweg said an investigation was underway "into suspicions of incitement to hatred, as the clothes worn on stage are likely to glorify or justify the National Socialist regime and disturb the public peace."
"We are investigating and once the procedure is completed, we will transmit it to the public prosecutor's office for a final legal assessment," the police spokesman said, stressing that it would be up to the prosecutor's office to initiate possible prosecutions.
Great news! Berlin police have launched a criminal investigation into Roger Waters following his concert in which he dressed like a Nazi SS officer holding a gun and denigrated the murder of Anne Frank.
Shockingly @AMCTheatres is promoting Waters currently. pic.twitter.com/6AlIHMmbR2
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 25, 2023
Several German and Israeli media also mention inscriptions in red letters on a screen during the concert of the names of Anne Frank and Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American star journalist for Al Jazeera who was killed in an Israeli raid in May 2022.
The concert drew sharp criticism in Israel. Israel's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday blamed Waters for "staining the memory of Anne Frank and the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust." "Waters wants to compare Israel to the Nazis."
He is "one of the greatest critics of Jews of our time," Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said on Twitter. He also defends actions to boycott Israeli products in the name of defending the Palestinian cause.
At a Berlin concert @RogerWaters compared Anne Frank to Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist shot while in an active combat zone. Waters seeks to compare Israel to the Nazis. He is disgracefully one of the biggest Jew haters of our time. And he is a worse musician than David Gilmour. pic.twitter.com/NNdlZSFguq
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) May 23, 2023
Roger Waters, 79, has distinguished himself in recent years by taking positions, particularly on the war in Ukraine. "It is not true that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked," said the former Pink Floyd on February 8 before the UN Security Council, where he had been invited by Russia to speak.
Authorities in Frankfurt cancelled a concert by the British singer on May 28 but the decision was overturned by an administrative court in the name of freedom of expression. A protest demonstration against a new concert by Roger Waters in Germany, Sunday in Frankfurt, is also planned at the call of the local Jewish community and the Green Party in particular.
