Major League Baseball (MLB) has ceased running advertisements for musician Roger Waters’ upcoming tour.
B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin announced in a Feb. 7 statement that MLB told them “that ads promoting Waters have run their course and there are no plans to schedule any more ads on the MLB platforms. MLB also noted that it had no anti-Semitic intentions by running these ads.”
MLB confirmed to the Associated Press that this is the case.
“There are no plans to schedule any more ads on the MLB platforms,” it said.
A spokesperson for Waters declined to comment to Rolling Stone magazine.
Kaufman and Mariaschin had written a letter to MLB on Jan. 29 urging them to end their promotion of Waters’ ads, calling him an anti-Semite for supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, putting a Star of David on a floating pig and demonizing Israel.
“[Waters] has blamed ‘the Jewish Lobby’ for intimidating anti-Israel critics like him,” they wrote. “And he has falsely labeled the Jewish state a ‘racist apartheid regime’ and claimed Israel is guilty of ‘ethnic cleansing.’ ”
Pro-Israel activists praised MLB’s move.
“Bravo @MLB!” Arsen Ostrovsky tweeted. “There should be no room for the hate and racism of @rogerwaters!”
Bravo @MLB! There should be no room for the hate and racism of @rogerwaters!https://t.co/Ie2zpQX7kM
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 8, 2020
StandWithUs co-founder and CEO Roz Rothstein tweeted that it was a “good update.”
GOOD UPDATE: Major League Baseball will NOT be promoting Roger Waters’ tour– because he supports boycott of #Israel @standwithus https://t.co/HC9EJKj9N1?
— Roz Rothstein (@RozRothstein) February 9, 2020
