Roger Waters; From supporting Palestinian children to paying tribute to slain journalist

British musician Roger Waters, who is the co-founder of rock band, Pink Floyd, has been generally hailed by pro-Palestine activists as a hero because of his unbridled support for Palestinian people and his sharp criticism of the occupying Israeli regime.

As Israel intensifies violence against Palestinians, with a majority of casualties being unarmed civilians, many prominent celebrities have come forth in a show of solidarity with the people of Palestine and their struggle for freedom.

With anthems of resistance, including Another Brick in the Wall to his credit as a member of Pink Floyd, Waters has always made an unequivocal stance on the issue of Palestinian freedom.

The musician has been an active member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel since 2011, and has routinely called for a total cultural boycott of Israel, urging artists to not perform in the events hosted by this apartheid regime.

Waters has regularly spoken about how the people in the West are indoctrinated to believe that Israel is not an apartheid state.

He is also very active on Twitter in support of the Palestinian cause, sending out messages of warning as Israel threatens to bomb civilian areas and cause mass destruction in Palestinian territories.

In a virtual appearance on the show Let’s Talk it Over with host Frank Barat in 2021, Waters spoke about how the Western world fails to condemn Israel’s atrocities.

On another occasion, he took part in support of students at Montreal’s McGill University who had faced backlash over their pro-Palestine activism.

When asked what support he’d like to see for those McGill students who feel that their freedom of speech has been violated, Waters said he hoped they would soon be treated with “the same equal human rights, under the law, as anyone else.”

“They should not be denied those human rights simply because they’re going against the Zionist, colonialist, fascist settler movement that is happening in the occupied territories in Palestine every day,” said Waters. 

He has been encouraging people to stay focused on occasions where “you can put your money where your mouth is” and take concrete steps to help the Palestinian people.

He has been quoted as saying, “So the message is, shout it from the rooftops. Shout it in the cafeteria at lunchtime, speak to people about it constantly, never let your attention drop and keep talking about it all the time. Get the word out. Be on the choir, I couldn’t agree more.”

Waters has also paid tribute to the veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed on May 11, while covering an Israeli army assault in the northern occupied West Bank refugee camp of Jenin. Abu Akleh, 51, was murdered by a bullet to the head fired by an Israeli sniper.

During a concert in New York, Waters displayed Abu Akleh's name across the concert’s backdrop along with words saying that her crime was “being Palestinian” and that her punishment was “death.”

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