A tale of 2 rockers: 'Are you a Jew?'

Eric Clapton

Roger Waters and Eric Clapton are lords in the kingdom of rock and roll. Their fans are legion, making these British musicians almost as influential as the royal family. Waters, at least, is hawking this as far as he can – and taking a troubling detour down the dark side of the world as well.

In his "Wall Tour" a few years back, Pink Floyd bassist Waters flossed concerts with generic Israel bashing. Obsessively. He couched his contempt with comparison to South Africa's apartheid, and appears to know nothing about either. Waters uses slogans loaded with innuendo, like the stones and bullets targeting Israelis.

Thanks to residual rocker-glam, Waters is an enormous attraction – beaconing the joy of Jew-hatred across campuses of the world. Tired slogans created by people who are either deceased or quite elderly (Waters is 73) pass their venom on to the young, in a pretense of entertainment.

Waters' lopsided obsession with "the Jews" is an old and ugly spectacle. He doesn't even try to back up his assertions or make intelligent arguments, when he makes claims such as these: "I've spoken to the Israelis and the Palestinians, and particularly the Israelis, since they hold all the power. Again, if the illegal wall that is winding its way remorselessly across the – yes, we can call them the occupied territories; yes, we can call it a country, Palestine – if that wall ever comes down, I'll do it. This was a promise that I made a number of years ago and it stands today." (From Rolling Stone)

Looks like he believes his own publicity and has a wee issue with monomania. He could call Britain the Kingdom of Leprechaun Livers, but that doesn't make it so. In common with all modern anti-Semites in the West, direct disclosures of hate are politically incorrect. Historic fiction delivered with grandiosity are followed by impassioned pleas to "Boycott, Divest and Sanction" (BDS) anything Israeli.

Waters' documentary, "The Wall," includes Nazi-ish imagery, which fans likely assume are indictments. But considering his virulent anti-Semitism, the use is suspect.

Still from Roger Water's trailer for video on "The Wall" tour

A new Waters project makes his loathing even clearer: "The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in the United States." The rocker is the narrator, and by now he could be called the Official Voice of Anti-Semitism. Produced by Sut Jhally, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, this video features some of the world's harshest critics of Israel (in addition to Waters).

Recently the rocker appeared in the flesh to peddle this "documentary" at UCLA. He must have felt right at home. Waters was uninterrupted, with signs at the scene informing students that "disruptions would not be tolerated." This is an unusual tack for UCLA, which seems to have no problem with disruption, threats, violence and cancellation of pro-Israeli and conservative events. Anti-Semitism is their official policy now.

Hillel, Stand With Us, and other pro-Israel groups blasted the "anti-Semitic film" as perpetuating ancient and genocidal "Zionist conspiracy" theories. "The Occupation of the American Mind" updated them a bit, throwing in "apartheid," anti-terrorism walls, and accusations that the U.S. is controlled by Jewish lobbies (or "well-oiled propaganda machines").

Although fans find it almost impossible to pan a rock icon, even the notoriously left-serving Anti-Defamation League (ADL) "sadly" came to the obvious conclusion that "Roger Waters is an anti-Semite." He worked very hard for that designation.

Sweden, which is already close to Judenfrei, made their Islamists cozier by airing "The Occupation of the American Mind" on public television. They intend on leaving it up until March 2018, despite protests from Israel's embassy and the fact that is says really stupid things, such as: "The last Jewish presence in the land of Israel dates 3,000 years back."

Between UCLA and Sweden, can't they find an archeologist, a historian or even a literate person? Any could easily disprove this.

Israel doesn't have rock music champions to counter the energetic malice of Roger Waters, who has bullied or used social media to keep other artists from performing there. Yet, many artists quietly ignore his nonsense and travel there, or engage in anti-Holocaust activities. One is the celebrated British rock-and-blues guitarist, Eric Clapton.

The only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Clapton played at Oswiecim (a Polish town near the gates of Auschwitz) in 2014. His was the final set in the annual Oswiecim Life Festival, which uses the arts to fight anti-Semitism and send "a message of peace and tolerance" from what was once the very heart of hate and destruction.

Clapton also wrote and performed the score for a documentary "Three Days in Auschwitz," released in 2016. His background of acoustic guitar and other instruments is generally meditative and occasionally pensive or grave. Clapton plays four instrumental pieces and is shown playing at the very end of the film.

Written and produced by visual artist and filmmaker Philippe Mora, the film investigates his family's losses at Auschwitz. It deliberately has the flavor of amateur videos, made when a younger generation questions the elder. He stops and speaks to the camera, and questions the people around him at several Shoah memorials.

Mora catches the astonishment of his mother, who barely escaped going to Auschwitz herself. He says little of his father, Georges Mora, a fighter for the French resistance, who lost many family members. With scant personal information or historic background in the film, Clapton's score becomes more significant in creating an atmosphere of sorrow and solace.

Mora and Clapton's association hails back to 1967, when they were flat mates at an artist's colony. The guitarist was also co-producer of "Three Days in Auschwitz." Mora describes his friend's work enthusiastically: "This was a unique and trusting collaboration between old friends. I was simply blown away by Eric's score for this film, which combined the tragedy of the events with a celebration of life. He created music with great dignity and emotional power."

An unusual take for Holocaust films is the inclusion of a 1945 quote by Joseph Goebbels from Berlin, revealing his obsession over the arts (especially film) as propaganda tools: "Gentleman, in a hundred years' time, they will be showing another fine color film describing the terrible days we are undergoing now. Don't you want to play a part in this film, to be brought back to life in a hundred years' time? Everybody now has a chance to choose the part they will play in the film. I can assure that it will be a fine and elevating picture. Hold out now, so that a hundred years from now the audience does not hoot and whistle when you appear on the screen."

By "terrible days," Goebbels meant that they were hopelessly losing the war. Apparently, he was so awed by his abilities as a propagandist that he believed he could reshape reality in their favor by making a convincing movie.

In a response to Nazi fantasies of Jewish extermination, Mora includes footage of his exuberant grandchildren. "This film is a form of revenge," he narrates, while they beam and fidget onscreen.

Mora juxtaposes his paintings and drawings between scenes: a variation of Munch's "The Scream" or Hitler interrogating Mickey Mouse with "Are you a JEW?" Inspired by painters Munch and Francis Bacon, Mora still expressed some doubt over the power of art to change culture and shape history. "What is the effect of a movie? It's certainly overpowered by bombs, to put it crudely," he mused in the Jewish Chronicle.

From Philippe Mora in his "Three Days in Auschwitz"

Films may or may not stop wars and injustice, but the reach of popular culture influences what will become acceptable. That includes the Third Reich. This power drives Roger Waters and other anti-Israel activists to use their fans, talent, money and connections in a crusade against Jews – only they won't call it that. The BDS propaganda program and incitement against Israel hasn't been that successful yet.

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