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Waters Calls On Israel to Remove Wall
By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 22, 7:45 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Veteran British rocker Roger Waters � co-creator of the legendary Pink Floyd album "The Wall" � performed before tens of thousands of Israeli fans on Thursday, after calling on Israel to tear down massive concrete blocks walling off parts of the West Bank.

An estimated 50,000 gathered in a hastily prepared outdoor venue for the concert next to the Jewish-Arab village of Neveh Shalom in central Israel. Israeli performers warmed up the crowd before Waters began his performance about half an hour behind schedule.



Just before the end of the concert, Waters addressed his audience. "I believe we need this generation of Israelis to tear down the walls and make peace with their neighbors," he said, setting off a round of cheers.

In the hours before the performance, cars were backed up for many miles in all directions in one of Israel's biggest-ever traffic jams.

Waters refused to appear in the usual sites for outdoor concerts in Tel Aviv, citing his opposition to Israel's policies toward the Palestinians, agreeing in the end to the field about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

One of the concert site staff, identified only as Amit, told Israel Radio that monks at a nearby Trappist monastery had given their blessing to the concert and its powerfully amplified message of coexistence, but as members of a silent order, "It's not likely that they'll sing along."

On Wednesday, after arriving in Israel, Waters visited a walled section of Israel's West Bank separation barrier running through the Palestinian town of Bethlehem and spray-painted a line from the album, reading, "No thought control" on the towering concrete blocks.