The head of Cologne’s Jewish community, Abraham Lehrer, addresses a rally protesting the May 9 concert of former Pink Floyd vocalist Roger Waters. Photo: Reuters/Oliver Berg

Hundreds of protestors carrying signs opposing antisemitism are expected to gather in Munich on Sunday to greet fans arriving for a concert by the former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters.

Waters is currently on a tour of five German cities amid a furor over his support for a comprehensive boycott of the State of Israel, as well as his use of antisemitic tropes in both his concerts and media appearances.

Munich is Colorful! (MiC) — an anti-racist NGO that tackles right-wing extremism through local initiatives — said it was calling for a protest against Waters outside the city’s Olympiahalle venue.

“Roger Waters has repeatedly expressed antisemitic, Putin-friendly and conspiracy ideology in the past,” MiC said in a statement that also referenced the singer’s frequently voiced opposition to western support for Ukraine’s democratic government as it combats the ongoing Russian invasion. “Unfortunately, the city of Munich has no legal recourse to prevent Roger Waters from appearing in the Olympiahalle.”

In March, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter called the prospect of Waters performing in the city “unspeakable” and “unbearable,” expressing the fear that “antisemitic slogans will be thrown around.” A privately-run venue, the Olympiahalle would have faced breach of contract proceedings had it canceled the concert.

Waters last played at the Olympiahalle in 2018. On that occasion, Reiter commented, “I don’t want him here, but we have to endure it for now.”

In its statement, the MiC emphasized that Waters is a “supporter of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign, which calls for a boycott of the State of Israel and its assets over the Palestine policy. At past concerts, for example, he released pig-shaped balloons with a Star of David painted on them.”

The group also condemned Waters’ statements on the invasion of Ukraine, including his claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “fighting fascism.” Last February, Waters delivered a rambling speech to the UN Security Council at the behest of the Russian mission to the UN, in which he claimed to be speaking on behalf of the world’s “voiceless majority” and denounced Ukraine’s elected leaders as “provocateurs.”

The president of Munich’s Jewish community, Charlotte Knobloch, said that Sunday’s concert was a “slap in the face to the Jewish community and to everyone who works for respectful and tolerant coexistence.”

Knobloch pointedly speculated as to whether the “law gives greater weight to protection for antisemitism than to protection from antisemitism.” She added that many in the Munich Jewish community had been forced to come to that conclusion.

As well as Munich, the 79-year-old Waters is scheduled to perform in Frankfurt, where a ban on the concert imposed by the city council was overruled on appeal, and has already played in Hamburg, Cologne — where protestors staged a rally in advance of his concert — and Berlin.