Miami Beach Cancels Youth Participation in Roger Waters Concert

MIAMI BEACH, FL — The city of Miami Beach abruptly canceled the participation of a dozen Miami Beach teenagers in a concert with rock legend Roger Waters after a prominent Jewish group accused the Pink Floyd co-founder of anti-Semitism. A dozen city teenagers were planning to take the stage with Waters as he performs "Another Brick In The Wall." He is appearing at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"This was an unexpected opportunity as we found out about it late last week," the city's Melissa Berthier told Patch on Thursday afternoon. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Beach Patch.)

But in a statement released hours before Thursday's concert, Miami Beach officials later said that they were canceling the city's participation "in light of recent information surrounding this event."

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Waters responded to Patch's story and others on Thursday in a video that was posted on Facebook shortly before the start of the concert by Michael Smerconish, who is preparing a piece to run on CNN this Saturday and in a longer form on SirusXM.

"These kids won’t get to perform," Waters said as he autographed photos to send to the Miami Beach teenagers. "I might get a bit teary now because we’ve been doing this for years and years and years. What these kids get out of this opportunity is beyond description. This is the biggest thing that has happened to many, many of these children in their whole lives."

He said that his people were going to find substitutes for the children who canceled.

Waters speaks to Michael Smerconish about the Miami Beach cancellation below:

The teenagers are between the ages of 12-16 and drama participants in the Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Teen Club. They were to enjoy a dress rehearsal with Waters' band, receive autographed photos, have prime seating in the orchestra pit for the show and "last, but definitely not least" perform with Waters in a choreographed routine to "Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)," according to an earlier press release describing the event.

Under the title "Anti-Semitism and hatred are not welcome in Miami," the Greater Miami Jewish Federation accused Waters of being an "outspoken proponent" of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. "Mr. Waters, your vile messages of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and hatred are not welcome in our community. We in Miami are better than that."

The group said it applauds corporate sponsors that have withdrawn their support for the concert tour and urged others to follow. Another group called StandWithUs hired an advertising company to drive a truck around the downtown area and by the arena with signs urging concertgoers to "Say no to racist attacks against Israel by Roger Waters." The signs also directed onlookers to visit the group's website.

"Roger Waters has a history of blaming only the state of Israel for the lack of peace," insisted Sara Gold Rafel, executive director of StandWithUs Southeast. The group describes itself as an international, Israel education organization.

"He is clear about his support for the boycott campaign against Israel, which does not promote peace, does not create a better life for Palestinians, and whose agenda is the destruction of the state of Israel," Rafel explained. "He has even flown a helium pig with a star of David on it during his concerts. StandWithUs is sending a clear message to Waters that his lies and hatred will not go unanswered."

In canceling the city's participation, officials added that "Miami Beach is a culturally diverse community and does not tolerate any form of hate."

Waters sent out a tweet on Wednesday night saying that he was looking forward to the Miami concert.

Earlier on Thursday the singer retweeted another portion of an interview he taped with Smerconish. That portion of the interview can be heard here but includes profanity.

"It would be a lot easier to be on tour if I wasn't doing any of this if I didn't have opinions, if I didn't feel my father's presence, if I didn't care about other people, if I didn't believe in the transcendental nature of love, if I hated people, if I was a bigot or if I was just devoid of an attachment to any ideas like that," Waters told Smerconish in the interview.

Right before he took the stage, Waters insisted that he is not an anti-Semite.

"I believe in basic civil human rights for the all people’s all over the world irrespective of their color, ethnicity, race or religion" he told Smerconish. "The people attacking me don’t believe in that. It’s a simple as that."

In New York, a Nassau county legislator is calling on the Nassau Coliseum to cancel an upcoming concert by Waters because of his involvement with the anti-Israeli movement.

Photo of the Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Teen Club courtesy of Miami Beach