Pink Floyd veteran Roger Waters has moved the venue of an upcoming rock concert in Israel to a mixed Jewish-Arab village seen as a symbol of peace following Palestinian protests, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Haaretz daily said Waters chose to hold his June 22 show in Neveh Shalom, a small community near Israel’s boundary with the West Bank, instead of the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, to encourage co-existence.
Famed for the 1970s hit “Another Brick in the Wall”, Waters has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s West Bank “wall” — a vast network of razor-wire fences and concrete barricades that puts large swathes of occupied territory under Israeli control.
The barrier is condemned by Palestinians as a land-grab that could prevent them founding a state. Israel calls it a bulwark against suicide bombers spearheading a more than 5-year-old Palestinian revolt.
Waters has said that he remains firm in his opposition to the barrier but will not penalize Israeli fans with a boycott.
According to Haaretz, 35,000 tickets have so far been sold for the Waters concert.