Roger Waters Compares Palestinians To Native Americans In New Song
Image by getty
Roger Waters, outspoken pro-BDS activist and former member of Pink Floyd, has released a new song in collaboration with Palestinian national poet, Mahmoud Darwish, and a Palestinian band, Trio Joubran.
According to Rolling Stone, Waters intends the song to be a swipe at Donald Trump for formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The song, which is more of a spoken word piece, consists of Waters reciting the Mahmoud Darwish poem “The Penultimate speech of the ‘Red Indian’ to the white man” over music recorded by Trio Joubran. In the video, Waters’ head hangs in a black void, expressionless, as his voice recites the poem.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Waters said, “On the surface, [the poem] narrates the last speech of the Native American to the white man, but it speaks also to Darwish’s beloved Palestine and its indigenous people.In fact, [it’s relevant] to all victims of settler colonialism everywhere, always.”
Waters has been a prominent voice for the BDS movement for nearly a decade. He has lost millions of dollars in corporate endorsements for speaking about his beliefs and has encouraged his fellow artists to boycott Israel while on tour, including Lorde and Radiohead.
Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
