Roger Waters Critics Call for Boycott Over Pink Floyd Singer’s ‘Brazen Anti-Semitism’

Roger Waters has urged his fellow musical artists to stop performing in Israel — and now the former Pink Floyd singer has been threatened with a boycott himself for his views on Israel.

Waters, who released his most recent solo album “Is This the Life We Really Want?” and is currently on the road with his Us + Them tour, has been targeted with a boycott by a group that accuses Waters of “espousing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”

In its petition, the group, which calls itself We Don’t Need No Roger Waters — a play on the lyrics to Waters’ “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” — calls Waters “a leader of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign within the cultural arena.”

“He has lobbied countless artists to refuse to perform in Israel, while publicly criticizing others for doing so,” the petition continues. “In 2013, Waters appeared on stage in a Nazi-like uniform, with a pig-shaped balloon emblazoned with a Star of David and symbols of dictatorial regimes. Waters has an extensive history of espousing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, speaking about the ‘extraordinary’ power of the ‘Jewish lobby’ and going so far as to compare Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.”

On its website, the group rails against Waters’ “malicious and intensive campaign against Israel and the Jewish people.”

“As Waters begins his tour to promote his latest album … it is time that the those who wish to defend human rights and democratic principles, take a stand and not remain silent in the face of brazen anti-Semitism,” the group continued.

The petition was launched as  No.1 NY Times Bestselling Author and award-winning filmmaker Ian Halperin prepares to release his Roger Waters documentary “Wish You Weren’t Here,” scheduled for release this summer.

Halperin told TheWrap on Wednesday that, while preparing the film, he spoke to a number of leaders who branded Waters an anti-Semite.

The filmmaker added that his investigation revealed other negative accusations leveled against the singer.

“I spent the past two years investigating Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. The results were not pretty. Aside from allegations of being abusive towards his ex wives and being a serial control freak, I interviewed the top Jewish leaders, the Pope and some important French, German, UK and Muslim leaders in the world who were not pleased with his stance against Israel,” Halperin said. “On camera, numerous of them call Waters an anti-Semite.”

Halperin quoted a former band member of Waters’ as saying, “He’s a master of misdirection and the penultimate control freak. If his fans really knew what he was about they’d run for their lives. He had several failed marriages because nobody could live with him. His temperament is highly abusive. His campaign against Israel and the Jewish people is horrendous, disgusting and completely abusive. Israel should sue his ass for spreading such nonsense against its country and people. Roger has caused Israel irreparable damage.”

TheWrap has reached out to Waters’ spokeswoman for comment on the petition and Halperin’s statements.

Waters has been criticized for his stance on Israel before. In 2015, radio personality Howard Stern said on his show, “Where’s the one place they can stick Jews where no one will be offended? Because the Jews are getting killed all over the world. Give them a little homeland on a desert where there’s no water, where essentially no one could live. And no one did live there despite the bulls–t. And the Palestinians are these Arabs that could live in Egypt, that could live in Saudi Arabia, but guess what? Those countries don’t want them either. So they have a country, and Israel has a tiny little country and it bugs the s— out of Roger Waters.”