RIO DE JANEIRO – Hotels in Argentina and Uruguay reportedly rejected reservations for Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters over accusations of antisemitism leveled at the British singer known for his pro-Palestinian views.
Waters was due to stay in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires ahead of shows scheduled for Nov. 21-22 as part of his “This is Not a Drill” tour, but the reservations fell through, with hotels citing a lack of availability, the Argentine newspaper Pagina 12 reported.
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Hotels in Montevideo, in neighboring Uruguay, also refused to host him but did not provide a reason, a Pagina 12 story on Wednesday quoted Waters as saying.
The singer said that as a result he was still in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he performed a few days ago.
“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 (…) because the Israeli lobby and whatever they call themselves have canceled me,” Waters told Pagina 12.
The president of the Central Israelite Committee of Uruguay, Roby Schindler, sent a letter to the Sofitel hotel urging it not to host Waters, Pagina 12 said.
Waters "takes advantage of his fame as an artist to lie and spew his hatred towards Israel and all Jews,” Schindler said, according to Pagina 12. “By receiving him, you will be, even if you do not want to, propagating the hatred that this man exudes,” Schindler added.
Waters has been dogged by accusations of antisemitism for years, including criticism by the U.S. government earlier this year. The State Department said Waters has “a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”
Speaking to Pagina 12, he vehemently denied that. “They do it because I believe in human rights, and I speak openly about the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Waters said.
In a recent interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald, Waters said the surprise attack by Hamas militants in Israel on Oct. 7 “was blown out of all proportion by the Israelis inventing stories about beheading babies.”