Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters says Hamas massacre ‘thrown out of all proportion’
Susie CoenTue, November 7, 2023 at 9:10 PM GMT+1
Mr Waters said 'it’s always hard to tell what actually happened' when questioned over the attack in southern Israel - Andre Borges/Shutterstock
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has been accused of anti-Semitism after claiming Hamas’s massacre was “thrown out of all proportion”.
The guitarist questioned the origins of the Oct 7 attack, which killed 1,400 Israelis, claiming it could have been a “false flag operation”.
Speaking to journalist Glenn Greenwald, Mr Waters asked “how the hell” Israel did not know the assault was coming.
“Didn’t the Israeli army … hear the bangs when they [Hamas] blew up whatever they had to blow up to get across the border? There’s something very fishy about that,” the 80-year-old said, adding he was “still a little down that rabbit hole”.
When asked whether the attack was justified, Mr Waters said: “We don’t know what they did do.”
“Was it justified for them to resist the occupation? Yeah. They’re absolutely legally and morally bound to resist the occupation since 1967,” he added.
Questioned on the targeting of Israeli civilians, Mr Waters said: “Of course I don’t condone that, but the thing was totally thrown out of all proportion by the Israelis making up stories about beheading babies.”
“What we do know is, whether it was a false flag operation or not … and whatever story we’re going to get to … it’s always hard to tell what actually happened.”
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism, which in September released a documentary on Mr Waters and allegations of anti-Semitism told The Telegraph: “Surprise surprise. Roger Waters casts doubt on the Hamas massacre of Jews.”
“This is the same man who, as we revealed in our recent documentary, wanted to emblazon ‘dirty k–e’ on a pig, referred to ‘Jew food’, called his agent a ‘f—--g Jew’ and did an impression of a Holocaust victim,” the spokesman said. “When it comes to Jews, there is no low to which Mr Waters will not sink. Decent people recognise his type.” In May, Mr Waters appeared on stage in Berlin wearing an outfit that closely resembled a Nazi uniform. The musician, a vocal pro-Palestinian activist, has always insisted he is not an anti-Semite and said the performance was “quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms”.
He has previously floated an inflatable pig emblazoned with the Star of David at his concerts.
