Why Pink Floyd Shouldn't be Canceled Over Roger Waters Anti-Israel Statements
Despite Pink Floyd's Co-Founder's Anti-Israel Statements,
Pink Floyd's Music Shouldn't Be Canceled
by Lee Enochs
Due to the recent war between Israel and Hamas, incidents of antisemitism have increased throughout America and Western Society at an alarming level. As a life-long supporter of Israel and Jewish people around the world, I stand against antisemitism in all its forms.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, there have also been violent anti-Israel protests in America, England and other democratic countries that have pushed the boundaries of what constitutes free speech and raises the question of whether or not anti-Israel rhetoric should be protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Free speech is a cherished value to many in contemporary American society and has been codified into the American jurisprudence system since the Bill of Rights within the US. the Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791.
The first amendment of the US. Constitution specifically and emphatically guarantees, among other things, the freedom of speech. However, are there limits to the freedom of speech in American society?
For example, in today’s world wherein public expression on the internet via social media brings along with its problems and complications since there are many bad actors online who use social media to express hate speech towards minorities, women, and members of the LGBT+ community with impunity and a high degree with frequency.
Since classical antiquity, the notion of free speech has been an essential component of all democratic civilizations. The academic scholar Ryan Ballot, in his seminal book; Greek Political Thought, argued that democracy flourished in ancient Athens largely due to the allowance of free speech by the Athenian government from 490 to 330 B.C.E
However, according to Ballot, not everyone in ancient Greece was on board with the concept of democracy and there was a tremendous debate within the political elites within Athenian society on the ideological differences between democracy and oligarchy, with many Athenians preferring Aristocratic ideas overdemocratic ones.
However, despite the acrimonious debate, Ballot argues that democracy appears to have prevailed in Athenian society and the principle of the freedom of expression was enshrined in its written constitution.
According to Ballot, whose book is a “must read” work of substantial literature on classical Greek antiquity, freedom and equality were key components of ancient Greek civilization. However, as aforementioned above, not everyone in ancient Greece maintained confidence in democratic principles and some critics of the notions of freedom and equality in Athenian society was that “ordinary citizens” did not possess either the intellectual disposition or education to share political power with those deemed to be better than them by the elite in ancient Greek society.
Free Speech and the Controversy Over Roger Waters' Anti-Israel Statements
As I discussed this week on my podcast, the controversy over antisemitism and free speech has even spilled over into category of classic rock as there have been calls to cancel the music and freedom of expression of Roger Waters, the Co-Founder of the seminal progressive rock band Pink Floyd.
Waters has been very outspoken about lack of support for Israel which he believes to be an authoritarian political state on par with the former apartheid regime of South Africa. While I do not agree with Waters's views on Israel, I also do not agree with those within the cancel culture who want to ban Roger Waters from being able to perform his music either.
Allowing free speech in a democratic society is often a very complicated issue that runs the risk of allowing very controversial and polarizing views to be expressed that could potentially upset the sentiments of large groups of people.
Despite Roger Waters controversial views and statements of opposition to Israel, I do not believe in canceling his ability to express views I find personally abhorrent due to the fact, that someone might want to cancel me and attempt to censor and silence me from expressing views they don't like either.
While there are major dangers in allowing freedom of speech and freedom of expression in a democratic society, the alternative is censorship, which is a form of authoritarian control.
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