Eric Clapton on Roger Waters’ political views: “It takes a lot of guts, and he suffers from it terribly”

nme.com:

Eric Clapton has shared his stance on Roger Waters‘ outspoken political views, saying that it “takes a lot of guts” and has seen him “suffer from it terribly”.The Pink Floyd icon has made headlines countless times in the past for his often-unfiltered political opinions – namely his criticism of the State of Israel.Just a matter of months ago, he faced multiple accusations of anti-Semitism after speaking out on the Israel-Hamas war.

One particular example came back in February, when he lashed out at Bono, describing him as “disgusting” and “a shit”, following the U2 frontman using his Sphere residency shows to pay respect to those killed during the October 7 attack at the Israeli music festival Supernova.“We have to start saying to these people, your opinion is so disgusting and so degrading… sticking up for the Zionist entity,” Waters said in an interview shortly after U2 dedicated ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’ to those who died during the festival.“What he did a couple of weeks ago in the Sphere in Las Vegas, singing about the Stars of David, was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my life.”A separate time saw him accuse Israel of “abusing the term anti-Semitism to intimidate people like me into silence”, and back in November he speculated that the “fishy” attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 could have been a “false flag operation”.He has repeatedly denied all accusations of anti-Semitism and explained that his disdain is towards Israel, not Judaism.Now, fellow rock veteran Clapton has backed Waters’ political outspokenness and recalled how he has seen the singer “suffer” as a result.The topic arose during an interview with The Real Music Observer, when the guitar legend was asked what he thinks.