There has been bad blood between former Pink Floyd bassist/singer/songwriter Roger Waters and guitarist/singer/songwriter David Gilmour for ages, frustrating fan hopes of a reunion. They played nice together in 2005 to raise awareness about climate change for London's Live 8 concert, but the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008 put a damper on talk of any type of reunion.
This latest kerfuffle online between Polly Samson, the artist wife of David Gilmour, and Roger Waters, probably means there will never ever be a Pink Floyd reunion EVER.
Roger Waters has been accused by many of being anti-semitic. We feel strongly that it is NOT anti-semitic to criticize the government, military, or settler movement of Israel, but agree that Roger's criticisms have strayed into anti-semitic tropes.
We admired his defense of Amazon activists fighting oil companies but his identity as a fearless defender of the underdog is thoroughly compromised by his role as Putin apologist who does not support democracy in Ukraine.
It is difficult to understand why people we think of as "leftists" or "progressives" would support a dictator such as Putin and fail to support freedom, independence, and democracy in Ukraine. Some still have sentimental feelings towards Russia as the former leader of world socialism or for other reasons, others are knee-jerk anti-American or decry a uni-polar word dominated by America. Some admire Putin's ruthlessness, while others ignore it as a means to an end.
But it cannot be ignored. It is the responsibility of all decent human beings, and especially artists and those who portray themselves as politically liberal, progressive, or radical to denounce Putin's imperialistic invasion, his war, his war crimes, and his targeting of civilians in Ukraine. We must support Ukraine's democracy, independence, and freedom.
P.S. Rather weak for Roger to threaten legal action against Polly. He's already lost in the court of public opinion.
You irritate a lot of people because it always sounds like you are defending Putin.
Compared to Biden, I am (defending Putin).
'I have seen the video and I am not surprised, but I find it really, really sad. It’s so alien to me, this action is so lacking in humanity. It encourages the continuation of the war. Pink Floyd is a name I used to be associated with. That was a huge time in my life, a very big deal. To associate that name now with something like this… proxy war makes me sad. I mean, they haven’t made the point of demanding, “Stop the war, stop the slaughter, bring our leaders together to talk!” It’s just this content-less waving of the blue and yellow flag. I wrote in one of my letters to the Ukrainian teenager Alina: I will not raise a flag in this conflict, not a Ukrainian flag, not a Russian flag, not a US flag."
Boycott Roger Waters! #BoycottRogerWaters Pro-Putin Anti-Semite
Kyslytsya noted that Pink Floyd had been banned by the Soviet Union for protesting against the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
“It is ironic, if not hypocritical, that Mr Waters attempts now to whitewash another invasion,” the Ukrainian diplomat said. “How sad for his former fans to see him accepting the role of just another brick in the wall – the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda.”
UPDATE: Roger Waters will speak at the pro-war, pro-Putin rally in Washington, D.C. on February 19, 2023.
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