The State Department became the latest organization to criticize Roger Waters for perpetuating antisemitism during his European concert tour. The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that Waters’ recent Berlin show “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,” and said Waters “has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.” 

 

Following the criticism, Waters reportedly removed certain parts of his acts from more recent shows but brought them back for his London concert, where he also attacked British MP Christian Wakeford as a “cripple” and accused him of working for his “masters in the foreign office in Tel Aviv.” Wakeford has criticized Waters and urged Manchester, the city he represents, to cancel an upcoming show.

 

Waters attempted to defend his actions in an interview with Double Down News, a British left-wing alternative media outlet, but instead continued to spew antisemitic rhetoric and attack Israel. Waters said calling him antisemitic is a “vicious lie” and said the Israeli government is attempting to cancel him because they see him as “an existential threat to their settler colonial racist apartheid regime.” 

 

Conversation has been divided on social media, with many of Waters’ supporters cheering him and applauding him for speaking up while others continued to criticize Waters and express their anger and disgust with his actions.

 

 

Mentions of swastikas grew online this week, initially after a man who had been displaying a Nazi swastika flag on top of a Chicago building and blaring antisemitic insults was found dead atop the building.

 

A swastika made of feces was found in a gender-neutral bathroom at a Montpellier, Vermont high school Tuesday. Queer students at the school described the gender-neutral bathroom as “a safe space for queer students” and said the act was “intentional.” 

 

On Wednesday, an Oklahoma City man said someone had mowed a giant swastika into their lawn.

The New York Times published a story Wednesday highlighting Nazi symbols in Ukraine, sparking debate on the significance of the swastika. 

Current messaging employed by various Jewish organizations about the rise of antisemitism is largely ineffective among young Hispanics, according to a new study by Fuente Latina, because young Hispanic people do not perceive antisemitism as a major problem in the United States today. The study found that a lack of information about the problem and the absence of personal relationships with Jewish people contributed to the lack of concern about antisemitism.

The major findings of the report include:

Funete Latina is a partner with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in its Stand Up to Jewish Hate campaign, to educate and raise awareness of antisemitism and all forms of hate and intolerance within the Hispanic community.

 

 

 

 

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