Rally Protest against Roger Waters in front of Cologne Cathedral

Cologne · On Monday evening, people demonstrated in front of Cologne Cathedral against the concert of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters on Tuesday in the Lanxess Arena under the slogan "No stage for anti-Semitism".

 Cologne's Lord Mayor Henriette Reker speaks at a rally against Roger Waters' planned concert in Cologne.

Cologne's Lord Mayor Henriette Reker speaks at a rally against Roger Waters' planned concert in Cologne.

Foto: dpa/Oliver Berg

According to initial information, a police spokeswoman said that a double-digit number of participants had been reported. According to the police, the organisers had registered 500 participants in advance. The rally was organised by the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation together with the Cologne Synagogue Community. Other participants included the German-Israeli Society Cologne, the Protestant Church Association Cologne and Region and the Catholic City Deanery Cologne.

Cologne's Lord Mayor Henriette Reker (independent), who had previously spoken out against the concert, also spoke at the event. "Anti-Semitism has no place in Cologne. We do not tolerate it," the politician announced afterwards on Twitter. "We do not tolerate it when it is openly expressed or implied. We do not tolerate it tacitly. Cologne shows today where it stands."

Waters has been criticised for his closeness to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign, which calls for a comprehensive boycott of the state of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. The Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation said that Waters repeatedly floated a balloon in the shape of a pig with a Star of David and capitalism symbols above the concert-goers. The so-called "Jewish pig" is an anti-Semitic image that has been widespread since the Middle Ages. The Star of David was not visible at Waters' concert in Hamburg on Sunday.

There had been criticism of Waters' performances nationwide in recent months. In Frankfurt, the city and the state of Hesse wanted to prevent the British rock singer from performing because of accusations of anti-Semitism. Waters, however, sued against the decision and was proven right. The Frankfurt administrative court invoked artistic freedom.

(Original text: dpa; Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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