Roger Waters of Pink Floyd endorses Gaza Freedom March

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Tuesday December 29, 2009 12:00 by Fintan Lane - IPSC media officer

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd has sent a message of solidarity to the organisers of the Gaza Freedom March, which is planned to take place on 31 December...

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd

A message of solidarity with THE GAZA FREEDOM MARCH

27 December 2009

My name is Roger Waters. I am an English musician living in the USA. I am
writing to express my great admiration for and solidarity with the 1360 men
and women from 42 different countries around the World who are gathering
in Egypt, preparing for The Gaza Freedom March. We all watched, aghast,
the vicious attack made a year ago on the people of Gaza by Israeli armed
forces and the ongoing illegal siege. The suffering wrought on the
population of Gaza by both the invasion and the siege is unimaginable to us
outside the walls. The aim of The Freedom March is to focus world attention
on the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza in the hope that the scales will
fall from the eyes of all, ordinary, decent people round the world, that they
may see the enormity of the crimes that have been committed, and demand
that their governments bring all possible pressure to bear on Israel to lift the
siege.

I use the word 'crimes' advisedly, as both the siege and the invasion have
been declared unlawful by United Nations bodies and leading human rights
organizations. If we do not all observe international law, if some
governments think themselves above it, it is but a few short, dark, steps to
barbarism and anarchy.

The Gaza Freedom March is a beacon to all those of us who believe that
under the skin, we are all brothers and sisters, who must stand shoulder to
shoulder, if we are to make a future where all have recourse to law and
universal human rights. Where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is
not just the preserve of the few. All the oil in The Middle East is not worth
one child's life. So to those of you who march, I tip my hat. It is a brave and
noble thing you do, and when you reach your goal please tell our Palestinian
brothers and sisters, that out here, beyond the Walls of their Prison, stand
hundreds of thousands of us in solidarity with them. Today, hundreds of
thousands, tomorrow, millions, soon, hundreds of millions. We Shall
Overcome.

Roger Waters