Alan Parsons Will Play Israel Even Though Roger Waters Doesn’t Want Him To
Roger Waters' longtime support of the Palestine people has prompted him to write open letters to artists such as Neil Young in the past. Now he's written one to a former collaborator: Alan Parsons, who engineered Pink Floyd's landmark 'The Dark Side of the Moon.'
In a recent Facebook post, Waters pleaded with Parsons to cancel his upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. But Parsons, in his own open letter on Facebook, says he plans to go forward with the show, which is scheduled for tonight.
Waters posted both a lengthy letter he had written earlier to Parsons -- who moved on to a successful solo career after working as an engineer and producer on classic albums by the Beatles and Al Stewart -- and a response over the weekend.
In the post, he explains that he had asked Parsons not to perform: "I see you have plans to do a gig in Tel Aviv. ... I am writing to ask you to reconsider those plans. I know you to be a talented and thoughtful man, so I assume you know of the plight of the Palestinians and that there is a growing nonviolent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement protesting against the abusive policies of the Israeli government."
Parsons replied, but asked Waters not to share what he wrote. Instead, Waters wrote another open letter, stating, "I regret that you have decided, for now at least, to stand with the minority of artists and academics who support the policies of the current Israeli government."
Ball now in his court, Parsons shared his thoughts on Facebook:
Parsons also included a short reply to Waters' last letter, saying that "this is a political matter and I am simply an artist. I create music" and that "music knows no borders, and neither do I."
Something tells us that Waters, who projected an image of the Star of David on an inflatable pig during a concert and compared the Israeli government to Nazis in 2013, probably isn't through with this matter yet.
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