Anti-Semitic Imagery Used in Roger Waters' Tour, Anti-Defamation League Says

The Anti-Defamation League is criticizing what it says is the dark side of Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters, claiming imagery the British rock icon used in his latest tour is anti-Semitic.

Waters, a longtime vocal critic of Israel, takes aim at the Jewish nation's West Bank security fence during a segment of his 2010-2011 "The Wall Live" tour by using imagery associated with stereotypes about Jews and money, ADL officials say.

During Waters' recent performances of "Goodbye Blue Sky," an animated scene has projected images of planes dropping bombs in the shape of Jewish stars of David, followed by dollar signs -- an "outrageous" juxtaposition, according to Abraham Foxman, ADL's national director.

"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," Foxman said in a statement.

"Of course Waters has every right to express his political views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through his music and stagecraft," Foxman's statement continued.  "However, the images he has chosen, when put together in the same sequence, cross a line into anti-Semitism."

Foxman said he wished Waters, 67, had chosen another way to convey his political views without "dredging up the worst age-old anti-Semitic stereotype" about Jews and money.

Waters' representatives did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

In 2009, Waters reportedly used a tour of Israel to highlight his criticism of the country's controversial barrier surrounding the West Bank, characterizing it as an "awful thing" amounting to a land grab and openly hoping that it would be "destroyed soon."