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Roger Waters Calls Israel ‘Extremely Evil,’ Pushes Antisemitic Tropes While Denying He’s Antisemitic
Former Pink Floyd vocalist Roger Waters on stage in Italy. Photo: Reuters/Mirko Fava
Former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters made a slew of anti-Israel remarks, promoted antisemitic tropes about Jewish power, and made inappropriate Holocaust comparisons in a new interview with Turkey’s TRT World published on Wednesday.
Waters’ interview with TRT World presenter Paul Salvatori focused on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip and was conducted ahead of the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the conflict. Salvatori began by asking the British musician to reflect on how he has changed in the last year, since the launch of the Israel-Hamas war.
“I wake up desperately disturbed every morning,” Rogers replied, before talking about wanting to fight against the “evil” in the world including Israel, of which he has been a longtime critic.
“Supremacy of all kinds is the key to understanding why people behave in these extremely evil ways, like the Israelis have done for the last 75 years and are continuing to do so with the support of the American empire including my country, the United Kingdom, which is part of the American empire,” he said. “And it’s deeply, deeply depressing to me.”
Waters said Israel “pretends” to believe in human rights and freedom of speech, just like the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland “and all the rest of them.” He added that US and UK leaders — such as US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former US President Donald Trump, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and current British Prime Minister Keir Stamer — “represent pure evil.”
The ex-Pink Floyd vocalist additionally expressed support for anti-Israel protesters on college and university campuses, specifically the “brave students” at Columbia University, who are protesting against Israel’s “genocide.” He compared efforts to stop these anti-Israel campus protests to the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police during World War II, and promoted antisemitic tropes about an “Israeli lobby.”
“What is incredible is how lots of our brothers and sisters in the student movement all over the world, but particularly where I live in the United States, the students at Columbia University in New York for instance, decided to protest the genocide,” Waters said. “They’re saying there’s a genocide going on … so we’re going to occupy lawns and maybe even a hall somewhere in Columbia. They [the Israeli lobby] sent the Gestapo in to beat them up … the a–holes at the top of Columbia University who are trying to bolster the Gestapo to come in and beat anybody up who wants to stand up for the love of our brothers and sisters and for truth.”
“When that happened we thought, ‘Oh my goodness. Here it is, in front of our very eyes, how much that system has been imposed by the Israeli lobby — by AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and the ADL [Anti-Defamation League] and all those, in my view, misguided religious supremacists,” Rogers added. “You can see it’s endemic in the whole of the political system of the United States of America and that is terrifying because the United States of America is the most terrifying henchmen at the moment.”
The musician also talked about an Israeli “lobby” trying to cancel his concerts in Europe last year as part of his “This Is Not a Drill” tour. However, he did not explain that local politicians, city councils, and Jewish groups pushed for the cancellation of several concerts because of his remarks and behavior, which include supporting the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel; pressuring other musicians not to perform in Israel; and his use of antisemitic and Holocaust-related imagery and content in past concerts, such as a balloon shaped like a pig and that was embossed with a Star of David.
Rogers ended his interview with TRT World by again claiming, as he has done numerous times in the past, that he is not an antisemite. “Never was, never will be,” he said. “Not an antisemitic thought ever in my whole life. What I am is somebody who fights for human rights and that is what they cannot allow.”
When asked if musicians like himself should be more vocal in condemning Israel’s “genocidal assault” in Gaza during its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists controlling the enclave, Rogers replied: “Yeah, of course they should. But obviously, it’s not just musicians. Everybody should. Anybody who has a heart.”
Last year, an explosive documentary showed fellow musicians detailing Waters’ long record of anti-Jewish barbs. In one instance, a former colleague recalled Waters at a restaurant yelling at the wait staff to “take away the Jew food.”
The post Roger Waters Calls Israel ‘Extremely Evil,’ Pushes Antisemitic Tropes While Denying He’s Antisemitic first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.