Roger Waters hits back at Nick Cave over Israel boycott

Roger Waters has hit back at Nick Cave after he criticised the Pink Floyd musician’s plea to cancel all shows in Israel.

Waters and a number of high-profile artists including Brian Eno, Ken Loach and Lauryn Hill have all signed a pledge supporting "a cultural boycott of Israel".

The document, which has been signed by more than 1,200 artists, is part of a lobbying campaign from BDS – a Palestinian-led movement "for freedom, justice and equality".

"There was something that stunk to me about that list," Cave said, explaining why he refused to sign the document in 2014.

"And then it kind of occurred to me that I’m not signing the list but I’m also not playing Israel and that just felt to me cowardly, really," he added.

At a media conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, the Bad Seeds musician defended his stand against the movement and said his main reason to play was that "I love Israel and I love Israeli people".

Cave added he thought the lobbying was "bullying" and "a kind of public humiliation", and that "it suddenly became very important to make a stand against those people that are trying to shut down musicians".

"After a lot of thought, a lot of consideration about the whole thing, I rang up my people and said, ‘We’re doing a European tour – add Israel’," he said.

In response, some artists who are part of the BDS movement have issued individual responses to Cave’s comments.

"Nick thinks this is about censorship of his music? What?," Waters wrote on the BDS website.

"Nick, with all due respect, your music is irrelevant to this issue, so is mine, so is Brian Eno’s, so is Beethoven’s, this isn’t about music, it’s about human rights," he added.

The Pink Floyd musician added that "if at some point in the future you want to climb out of the dark, all you have to do is open your eyes".

"We, in BDS will be here to welcome you into the light."

Eno, while praising Cave’s support for Palestine, said "this has nothing to do with ‘silencing’ artists".

"A charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced," he added.

Cave isn’t the first musician to refuse to boycott Israel.

In July, Radiohead frontman Thom York hit back at Ken Loach after the director criticised the band’s decision to play in Tel Aviv.

Yorke replied to Loach’s accusations of "supporting apartheid" by saying that "playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government".

"We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America," he added.

"Music, art and academia is about crossing borders not building them, about open minds not closed ones, about shared humanity, dialogue and freedom of expression," he added.

"I hope that makes it clear Ken."

Other musicians who have opposed the boycott include Elton John, Madonna and Metallica.

(c) Sky News 2017: Roger Waters hits back at Nick Cave over Israel boycott