Roger Waters Calls Out Thom Yorke Over Radiohead Israel Controversy

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has spoken out after Thom Yorke dismissed a petition for Radiohead to cancel an upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. In defending the show, Yorke had singled out Waters—one of the petition’s signees—because Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich worked heavily on Waters’ new album. “Imagine how this has affected me and Nigel’s relationship,” Yorke said. “Thanks, Roger. I mean, [Nigel and I are] best mates for life, but it’s like, fuck me, really?” Yorke added that the signees had chosen to “throw shit at [the band] in public … rather than engage with [them] personally.” In a response published in Rolling Stone, Waters disputes the second claim, saying he reached out to Yorke via email hoping to “start a dialogue.” Waters writes, “A few hours later, Thom replied. He was angry. He had misinterpreted my attempt to start a conversation as a threat.”

In response, Waters says, he wrote, “I’m sorry, my letter wasn’t meant to be confrontational. I was reaching out to see if we could have the conversation that you talk about in your reply. Can we?” Having received no reply, he says he sent Yorke a “long heartfelt entreaty” seeking further discussion. Of Yorke’s claim that the signees didn’t engage the band personally, Waters writes, “That is not true, Thom. I have made every effort to engage with you personally, and would still like to have the conversation.” He goes on to say, “Today is the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Palestine by Israel. Fifty years living under military occupation. Fifty years for a people with no civil rights. Fifty years of no recourse to the law. Fifty years of apartheid.” Read the full letter at Rolling Stone.

In his defense of the concert last week, Yorke termed the controversy “patronizing” and “offensive.” He said it was “deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves.” He added, “It’s really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years. They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that.”

Radiohead’s show is set to take place at Park HaYarkon on July 19.

Several musicians have aligned themselves with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel. Brian Eno barred an Israeli dance company from using his music in a performance after it was revealed that the performance was being sponsored by the Israeli embassy. Waters signed a petition in November asking the Chemical Brothers to withdraw from performing in Tel Aviv. The Radiohead petition also includes signatures from Thurston Moore, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, and more.

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