Some valley residents not happy about Roger Waters playing at Desert Trip

Some people in the Coachella Valley aren’t too pleased to hear Roger Waters name on the Desert Trip lineup.

Waters, founding member of Pink Floyd, hasn’t been quiet about his opinions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is entirely wrong and completely unsustainable and must be reversed,” said Waters in a Youtube video.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement he supports aims to put economic and political pressure on Israel in an effort to end Israel’s occupation in Palestine.

Waters has called on fellow musicians to boycott Israel by not performing there.

This years long protest is what Marshall Gilbert takes issue with.

“It’s one thing if you don’t agree with a government’s policy and don’t want to perform there, I can actually respect him for that. But to encourage performers not to perform there, like the Stones who told him to go jump in a lake, is really going to an extreme,” Gilbert said.

In recent years Waters has been accused of being anti Semitic by radio host Howard Stern and leaders in the Jewish community for negative comments about Israel.

But in an open letter on Facebook from Waters in 2013, he disputes this saying in part: “It is also extremely insulting to me personally in that you accuse me of being ‘anti semitic’, ‘a jew hater’ and ‘nazi sympathizer.'”

Many people take issue with his use of an inflatable pig at his shows with the Star of David and other religious symbols on it.

Bruce Landgartner, CEO of the Jewish Federation, said while some people plan to boycott the concert he doesn’t support that.

“We don’t endorse boycotts because Roger Waters that’s just exactly what he does. Cause boycotts and alienation don’t work and we take the opportunity to use it to help people understand what his issues are and what the issues are,” Landgartner said.

Both Landgartner and Gilbert hope members of the community take the time to educate themselves on the issues and make an informed decision.

“What makes Roger Waters dangerous is these are very complicated issues, that people don’t study on and understand. But they take him on his word cause he’s a celebrity and a rock star,” Gilbert said.

Regardless of your stance Desert Trip is sold out, with the exception of local sales tickets.

We reached out to Golden Voice for a comment but have yet to hear back.