City and state sought to cancel the upcoming Roger Waters concert, calling Waters „one of the world’s most influential antisemites,” but neither city nor state has the right to do so.
An administrative court in Frankfurt found that although both the city and the state of Hesse sought to cancel the upcoming concert of Roger Waters at the Frankfurt Festhalle on May 29, neither of them has the right to due so, reports the Deutsche Welle.
As the owners of concert organiser Messe Frankfurt, it is the contractual obligation of the state and the city „to make it possible for Waters to stage the concert,” despite concerns over the British musician’s supposed antisemitic leanings.
Waters has been in conflict with several other German city venues for his earlier statements during past stage appearances.
The administrative court on Monday said that while Waters’ show borrows symbolism linked to National Socialism, he was seemingly not glorifying or qualifying Nazi deeds or identifying with Nazi racial ideology, and was not using Nazi propaganda during the concert, adding that to deny Waters access to the site would be to infringe upon his free speech rights as an artist.
The city of Frankfurt and the state of Hesse instructed Messe Frankfurt representatives on February 24 to contact the owner of the Frankfurt Festhalle venue and cancel the upcoming concert in May, justifying their decision by calling Waters one of the „world’s most influential antisemites.”
The artist has been branded an antisemite due to his loud criticism of the Israeli government and his ties to the BDS movement. His shows often feature giant inflatable pigs emblazoned with aggressive or brooding slogans. In the past, some of these had the Star of David painted on them.
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