(JTA) — A Pink Floyd tribute band cancelled three performances in Israel after being called out by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters and pressure from boycott activists.
UK Pink Floyd Experience early on Sunday announced its decision to not appear in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba in shows early next month, hours after Waters posted a letter calling on the group not to.
The band also came under pressure from activists supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The band members cell phone numbers were made public, leading to an avalanche of phone calls which forced them to cancel their phone services, according to reports citing their production company.
The band previously played in Israel in 2017.
Waters wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday evening: “To sing my songs in front of segregated audiences in Israel, and contribute to the cultural whitewashing of the racist and apartheid government of that country, would be an act of unconscionable malice and disrespect.”
“Have you never actually listened to the work that you perform to make a living? The people you intend to entertain are executing their neighbor’s children, shooting them down in cold blood every day,” he also wrote.
Waters announced in a Facebook post on Sunday that the band had decided to cancel their Israel gigs and thanked the band members for their “prompt response.” He called on other Pink Floyd tribute bands to refrain from performing in Israel.
Supporters of Israel then flooded the band’s Facebook page with angry posts leading the band to remove its Facebook page.
Waters, who supports the BDS movement against Israel, frequently calls on artists scheduled to perform in Israel to cancel their shows.
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