Roger Waters: “These idiots from the Israeli lobby co-opted all the hotels in Buenos Aires and Montevideo”

2023-11-15 17:20:24

EXCITED FOR MONTEVIDEO ON FRIDAY!//t.co/CZeEiwwDCM pic.twitter.com/1or9G1DEaB

— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) November 14, 2023

The controversy surrounding the return of Roger Waters to Uruguay has reached surprising levels, with the Regency chain and the Hyatt Centric hotel rejecting the legendary musician’s reservations and a pro-Zionism organization putting pressure on the hotel in parallel – and publicly – Sofitel Carrasco. This conflict has generated a wave of tensions that not only involves Waters and the companies in question, but also raises broader questions about the freedom of expression, politics in music and the ethical limits of companies.

Regency and Hyatt Centric’s rejection of Roger Waters’ reservations has sparked a debate about the possible reasons behind this decision. Is it a political act, a business measure following the currents of social networks, or are there lobbyists pressing behind it?

In an interview with the Argentine media Página 12, Waters said he was “furious” because his hotel reservations in Buenos Aires and Montevideo were canceled. “The city of Montevideo has been closed to me, I have nowhere to stop. I have to fly there directly on the day of the show, Friday the 17th. And I had a dinner date on the 16th with José Mujica, the former president of Uruguay, who is a friend of mine. And I can’t go, I can’t have my dinner with Mujica because the Israeli lobby and whatever they call themselves have canceled me,” she said in reference to the claims of the Israeli Central Committee of Uruguay.

This last organization was precisely the one that sent a letter to pressure the Sofitel Carrasco hotel to join the sabotage of Roger Waters, for his constant criticism of Zionism and its expansionism in occupied Palestinian territories, and more recently the massacre perpetrated against the Gaza Strip. “These idiots from the Israeli lobby managed to co-opt all the hotels in Buenos Aires and Montevideo and organized this extraordinary boycott based on malicious lies they have been telling about me,” he said.

#Palestine ???????? #Israel ???????? This is what bothers Roger Waters’ Zionists, he tells them the truth around the world and without fear. #StopTheGenocide #FreePalestine #PalestinaLibre #IsraelWarCriminal #RogerWaters pic.twitter.com/jpi1pYIIY3

— Janus (@JanusNoticias) November 13, 2023

Roger Waters very harsh against the Central Israeli Committee of Uruguay

In the letter that Schindler sent to the Sofitel he made some unfounded accusations against Waters, such as that he practices “Judeophobia” and that “he is a misogynist, xenophobe and anti-Semite, who takes advantage of his fame as an artist to lie and vomit his hatred towards Israel and all Jews”.

Regarding these words from the president of the Israeli committee, the British artist responded: “I know this well, I see that this Roby Schindler calls me ‘misogynist’ as the least of the crimes I am supposed to have committed. And does he know where that comes from? From Polly Samson, David Gilmour’s wife: she is the only person who has ever accused me of being a misogynist. And they took that and put it in my overview, like a Nazi, and a Jew hater, and all the rest of the absolute nonsense they say about me, dirty lies”.

«The last time I was in Montevideo, five years ago, they gave me the keys to the city! I was standing there with a medal around my neck, listening to them say that I was a wonderful person, what a great defender of human rights, and what a wonderful musician, thank you for these 60 years of great music and blablabla… and now they won’t let me be! in a hotel in the city!” criticized Waters.

Hotels in Montevideo deny accommodation to Roger Waters. Israeli Central Committee of Uruguay also puts pressure on Sofitel

The British artist has criticized the offensive and massacre of the Israeli army in Palestine, which…