Here's a list of symbols seen dropping like bombs from a plane in a video projection during Roger Water's The Wall concert: Crosses, Muslim crescents, Shell logos, dollar signs, Hammer & Sickles, Mercedes Benz logos, and the Star of David. And here's the number of angry press releases issued to protest the imagery: One. Care to guess who's outraged? Click through for the video and the answer, which may not shock you (especially since we put it in the headline of this post).
Abe Foxman at The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has fired off a press release declaring it anti-Semetic. "It is outrageous that Roger Waters has chosen to use the juxtaposition of a Jewish Star of David with the symbol of dollar signs. While he insists that his intent was to criticize Israel's West Bank security fence, the use of such imagery in a concert setting seems to leave the message open to interpretation, and the meaning could easily be misunderstood as a comment about Jews and money."
For analysis, we turn to Gothamist's in-house Rabbinical scholar Ben Yakas, who tells us, "The order he put everything in is unfortunate, but I don't think it was necessarily a direct 'Jews and their money,' anti-Semitic thing. It's too vague for that. He has crosses and crescents and fuel company logos all raining down together. It's just a bad juxtaposition. What's more offensive is the song; it's almost a rip off of Ruby Tuesday's chorus!"
What do you think? Is the Star of David bomb imagery more offensive than the Israeli policy of building new settlements in Palestinian territory? Or is it more offensive than Yakas's unsolicited and unappreciated criticism of Pink Floyd? Ultimately, none of this can be more offensive than how much scalpers are charging for tickets for Waters's upcoming shows at Madison Square Garden. Anyone want to help us out with a pair for face value? We'll make you famous, like Yakas!
