Roger Waters, Israel: Jewish Group Pressure Organizers to Cancel His NYC Appearance

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Amid pressure from a Jewish group, a cultural center in Manhattan has reportedly canceled an interview with Roger Waters following the musician's recent statements regarding Israel.

According to Jewish Daily Forward, "An Evening With Roger Waters" was slated for the Theresa L. Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City for April 30. The interview, which was to look at the musician's career and current projects, was then reportedly rescheduled to June 19 but now is not happening at all.

"It's absolutely outrageous that Jewish community funds are going to help Roger Waters spread his anti-Semitic message," Richard Allen of JCC Watch said in a statement found on the organization's site. Allen also added Jewish donors to the JCC were essentially "helping to provide Waters with a facility, marketing, and respectability, so he can win over more people with his anti-Israel lies."

The ticket link to the event says, "This event has been cancelled. We will be issuing refunds to all ticket-holders."

As previously reported Waters has been quite vocal in his stance imploring musicians to boycott Israel, comparing it to the "apartheid regime" in South Africa.

"They are running riot and it seems unlikely that running over there and playing the violin will have any lasting effect," Waters said, adding he encouraged Stevie Wonder to nix a gala dinner performance last December for the Israeli Defense Forces.

Tickets for the event, which started at $75, will be refunded by organizers. Waters will launch yet another leg of The Wall world tour in Europe starting July 18 in the Netherlands. The trek is slated to conclude in Paris on Sept. 21.

Watch Roger Waters Give a Speech at the U.N.Video

Source: http://www.spinner.com/2013/04/04/roger-waters-israel-new-york-cancel/

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