Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters believes Western democracy does not exist, and anyone who believes it is ‘thick.’
During a new interview with Aljazeera, the rocker was asked if he still has faith in Western democracy after the ongoing fights between Gaza and Israel. He shared:
“No of course I don’t. I haven’t had any faith in Western democracy since shortly after the Second World War. Anybody who has faith in Western democracy is obviously a bit thick. They haven’t been watching what’s going on. Well, now is the time because the Western democracies have come out openly, not just Joe Biden and Anthony Blink and Victoria Newland and Jake Sullivan and the Americans, but also Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, the turn code leader of the labor party in England and matron and all the leaders of the so-called democratic countries all over NATO have all come out and said, ‘Here we are, we declare that we don’t give a fig for you or for your democracy or for human rights. All we care about is our narrow economic, hegemonic and political interests, and this is us demonstrating it to you, and if you elect any of us again ever, so be it.'”
Waters’ Earlier Comments On The Matter
This is not the first instance the bassist ever opened up about politics. Earlier, Waters claimed that Israeli lobbyists attempted to cancel his shows in South America due to his vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of the Israeli government.
Waters alleged that lobbyists tried to influence hotels in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay, but the Latin American Confederation of Workers provided accommodations in solidarity with the ‘defense of human rights.’ The bassist also addressed the Gaza crisis, accusing Israel of committing genocide. He denied accusations of antisemitism and compared his critics to Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist of the Nazi regime. The rocker said of his show:
“My heart and my brain are so full of all the political as well as humanitarian machinations of the Gaza question, on the Palestine question right now that I find it difficult to escape from it and all the bullsh*t that I’m experiencing in South America with them trying to cancel my show.”
Despite his explanations, some think he is ‘antisemitic.’ One user on X wrote:
“Roger Waters is antisemitic. Producer Bob Ezrin confirms this. A new documentary, The Dark Side of Roger Waters, includes claims from Ezrin and former Waters saxophonist Norbert Stachel. Both are Jewish, & both claim he made offensive remarks about Jewish people to them.”
You can watch the full interview here.
