Pink Floyd row over ‘anti-semite’ Waters

PINK FLOYD’S Roger Waters has been accused of being an “anti-semitic, misogynistic Putin apologist” by former bandmate David Gilmour and his wife, Polly Samson.

Samson, a novelist and songwriter who co-wrote lyrics to several of the band’s tracks with her husband, made the comments about Waters on Monday night.

It appeared to be a response to an interview Waters gave to Berliner Zeitung, a German newspaper, on Saturday in which he criticised Israel and appeared supportive of Russia.

Asked if he stood by the comments, Waters, who left the band in the 1980s after disputes over its creative direction, said: “Yes, of course. The Israelis are committing genocide. Just like Great Britain did during our colonial period, by the way.”

He tweeted a link to the English translation of the article over the weekend, defending himself against accusations of anti-semitism.

Waters wrote that the paper had “courageously” published the interview “against the backdrop of the outrageous and despicable smear campaign by the Israeli lobby to denounce me as an anti-semite, which I am not, never have been and never will be”.

He criticised the West’s response to the war in the article, saying: “The most important reason for supplying arms to Ukraine is surely profit for the arms industry.

“And I wonder: is Putin a bigger gangster than Joe Biden and all those in charge of American politics since the Second World War? I am not so sure. Putin didn’t invade Vietnam or Iraq.”

In a post on Twitter, Samson told Waters he was “antisemitic to your rotten core”. She also accused him of being a “misogynistic, sick-with-envy megalomaniac”.

Gilmour supported her comments, tweeting: “Every word. demonstrably true.”

Waters wrote on Twitter he was “aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments” by Samson “which he refutes entirely”.