Tear down the wall

Here’s a man who knows about walls…
In 1979, Roger Waters conceived and co-wrote The Wall, perhaps the most iconic concept album of all time – and one that dealt with separation and isolation. 30 years later, Pink Floyd’s bass player, songwriter and vocalist paid a visit to Palestine in support of the Jenin Cinema project, which aims to restore the city’s only theatre. On visiting the apartheid wall, he had some pointed observations on the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

Here come the anti-Semite accusations, then...
“I am not of the Bono school, someone who goes around the world being nice to everyone,” Waters told a group of Israeli film students. “When I have bad words to say, I say them. And I think that without equal rights for everyone, this democracy is meaningless.” He then spoke out against the occupation, the checkpoints and the restrictions on free movement of Palestinians, before reserving an honest word for the latest assault on Gaza: “[That was] not an eye for an eye, but a hundred eyes for an eye.”

So, can we plan another massive Wall concert like the one that marked the demise of the Berlin Wall?
Doesn’t seem too far fetched. “If they take this thing down, I would be delighted to come and do a concert here,” Waters said, describing the wall as an obscenity. “In fact, I would insist on it. This is a bad thing. This is wrong. This is not helping anybody. [I hope] this thing, this awful thing, is destroyed soon.”

Comparing....
Legendary album
Apartheid barrier

Conceived
1979
2002

By
An English genius called Roger
An Isreali war criminal called Ariel

Length
81minutes
650 km

Cost
$19.99 per copy
$2.8 million per kilometre

Theme
Implications of self-imposed isolation
Imposition of self-imposed colonisation

Reception
Commercial success and critical acclaim
Anger and disgust by every decent human being

“We don’t need no education”
Most famous line from the album
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev response to Waters protest