Pink Floyd cover band cancels Israel show after BDS pressure
Roger Waters: The people you intend to entertain are killing their neighbor’s children, shooting them in cold blood
UK Pink Floyd Experience, a tribute band to the British rockers, has canceled three upcoming shows in Israel after pressure from Roger Waters, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd.
On Saturday, Waters – who is a vocal BDS activist – posted on Facebook urging the cover band to cancel.
“To sing my songs in front of segregated audiences in Israel, and contribute to the cultural whitewashing of the racist and apartheid government of that country, would be an act of unconscionable malice and disrespect,” Waters wrote. “The people you intend to entertain are executing their neighbor’s children, shooting them down in cold blood every day. In the name of everything human, PLEASE hear my plea and cancel today.”
Within a few hours of Waters’s post, the tribute band posted on Facebook that all of its shows in Israel were canceled. But after a wave of online attacks, the cover group deleted its Facebook page entirely by Sunday morning.
“Despite the attempts of EGOeast Productions to stop this decision, we were unable to prevent the online flood that included publishing the phone numbers of the band members, who were so harassed that they shut off their devices,” said EGOeast, the local production company, in a statement on Sunday. EGOeast said it worked all night to try and prevent UK Pink Floyd Experience from canceling its shows, and thousands of Israelis took to social media to do the same.
“The situation became so extreme that the band removed its Facebook page,” EGOeast said. “Over the past few hours, the group has asked to hold off with an official response, in order to try and fulfill the contract it signed,” the production company added. “We are hopeful that our efforts over the past 24 hours will bear fruit and the shows will be held as planned.”
A spokesman for the UK Pink Floyd Experience declined to respond to a request for comment before press time. The spokeswoman for EGOeast said Sunday afternoon that no final decision had been made yet.
The cover band was slated to perform January 4 in Beersheba, January 5 in Tel Aviv and January 6 in Haifa.
In January 2017, the UK Pink Floyd Experience did perform in all three cities, leaving thousands of Israeli fans very satisfied.
“Getting ready for tonights [sic] show,” they tweeted in January 2017. “Looking forward to playing for the people of Tel Aviv!” The group also found time between their shows to tour Israel, including visiting the Dead Sea and other sites.