Roger Waters lashes out after April Fool's joke

Waters is furious with Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry after they played an April Fools joke on him, claiming he was going to play in Tel Aviv in July.

By ILANIT CHERNICK
FILE PHOTO: British rock star Roger Waters walks along the Israeli barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem (photo credit: REUTERS/AHMAD MEZHIR/FILE PHOTO)
FILE PHOTO: British rock star Roger Waters walks along the Israeli barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem
(photo credit: REUTERS/AHMAD MEZHIR/FILE PHOTO)
Pink Floyd front man and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activist Roger Waters is furious with Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry after they played an April Fool's joke on him.
In a tweet on Monday, April 1, the ministry's account, @4ILorg, posted that Waters would be playing in Tel Aviv on July 16, "Mark your calendars!"

Many readers picked up that the post was an April Fool's joke, but some did fall for it, tagging Waters and asking him to play in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel, while some asked that he play in the Gaza Strip as well.
"Is that before or after he converts?" joked @SussexFriends, while @heatherglasson said, "In your dreams... no way would he do that. April fool!"
Waters did not take the joke lightly, however. Early on Tuesday morning, he posted on Twitter, in capital letters, "HO! F******* HO! EXCEPT THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER."

He then continued his post in an angry Facebook rant,  "THE MURDER OF UNARMED CHILDREN AND PARAMEDICS AND JOURNALISTS AND OTHER PEACEFUL PROTESTERS BY COWARDS IN UNIFORM WITH HIGH POWERED SNIPER RIFLES FROM BEHIND FORTIFIED POSITIONS IS NOT A MATTER FOR JEST.
"YOU DISGUST ME, AND YOU DISGUST THE WHOLE OF THE REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD," he wrote.
He also attached a bloody photo of an alleged Palestinian doctor who he claimed "WORKED ALL DAY TO SAVE SOME OF THE LIVES YOU HAVE TRIED TO DESTROY. HE IS A HERO."

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"YOU ARE A DISGRACE," he added.
Reactions varied on the matter, with some agreeing with the anti-Israel musician and others being cheeky and telling him he needs to learn to take a joke.

"Now that you’re using caps you’ve totally convinced me #pathetic," commented one user. Another told him to "calm down you raging clown," while a third said that, "it was an April fools day joke, A pretty damn good one. But all you see & think about is blood & hate. Also, all caps, yeah, that doesn't sound frantic at all... #Israel."

"On the other hand, you could use your talent to promote peace. Why not play there?... at least you'd have an audience that might listen. Aggression begets more aggression - fight it from within," another responder tweeted.



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