Last week the city of Miami Beach, Florida, cancelled a planned performance of local children with Mr Waters after the Greater Miami Jewish Federation accused Mr Waters of spreading “vile messages of antisemitism, anti-Zionism and hatred [which] are not welcome in our community”.
Mr Waters has attempted to persuade other performers not to play in Israel. In the past few weeks, he has been a leading voice in the unsuccessful effort to pressurise Radiohead into cancelling their concert in Israel.
However, Israel continues to attract some of the biggest bands and performers in the world. Last Saturday night, Guns N’ Roses played the largest concert in Israel’s history in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park, with an attendance of over 62,000.
As well as playing some of their greatest hits, including “Welcome to the Jungle”, “November Rain” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, the band also played Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”, which some took to be a not-so-subtle message to Mr Waters.
Speaking to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, Mr Waters said he believed attempts to stop him playing in Nassau were “going to fail… because you would have to tear up the Constitution of the United States of America, particularly the First Amendment, and throw it into the Hudson River, or the East River if that’s closer, in order for that to happen.”
