Smoke on the Water(s) a fire in the sky . . .
From the Haftara of Zechariah: “Take the filthy garments off him!”
When do words, performances, and costumes cross the line to ‘harm?’
And for the record, what does clothing say about the man?
Does clothing make the man . . . .
Waters, 79, has said the performance last month, during which he wore a black trench coat with a swastika-like emblem, was a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry and called criticism of it “disingenuous and politically motivated.”
Berlin police said they were investigating Waters on suspicion of “incitement of the people.” Critics online included U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, who called the concert “Holocaust distortion” and amplified a tweet denouncing Waters by the European Commission’s coordinator on combating antisemitism.
https://news.yahoo.com/us-calls-roger-waters-performance
The United States State Department weighs in: Backing Lipstadt: The State Department stood by Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt’s criticism of Roger Waters’ recent concert in Berlin, during which he engaged in Holocaust distortion and donned a Nazi uniform, (with the State Department) saying the performance was “deeply offensive to Jewish people” and noting Waters’ “long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”
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What is this Prophet referring to: Zechariah 3:4 From this week’s Haftara / Prophetic reading
וַיַּ֣עַן וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֶל־הָעֹמְדִ֤ים לְפָנָיו֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הָסִ֛ירוּ הַבְּגָדִ֥ים הַצֹּאִ֖ים מֵעָלָ֑יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֗יו רְאֵ֨ה הֶעֱבַ֤רְתִּי מֵעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ עֲוֺנֶ֔ךָ וְהַלְבֵּ֥שׁ אֹתְךָ֖ מַחֲלָצֽוֹת׃
The latter spoke up and said to his attendants, “Take the filthy garments off him!” And he said to him, “See, I have removed your guilt from you, and you shall be clothed in [priestly] robes.”
