Roger Waters Slams Syria's White Helmets: 'A Fake Organization Fronting for Terrorists'

Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters denounced the White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer group and a 2017 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, during a concert last Friday in Barcelona, calling them a "fake organization" that provides propaganda for “jihadists and terrorists.”

The rocker and BDS activist claimed that listening to “propaganda of the White Helmets and others we would be encouraged to encourage our governments to go and start dropping bombs on people in Syria,” in a video posted on YouTube by a group called Hands off Syria.

In the video, Waters begins by addressing the audience with a claim that someone wanted to come on stage and make a speech about last week's chemical gas attack in Douma.

“He is one voice, I personally think he is entirely wrong, I believe the organization that he purports to represent and who he supports, the White Helmets, are a fake organization that is creating propaganda for jihadists and terrorists, that’s what I believe," Waters said.

The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, have saved over 80,000 lives since it began operations in 2012, according to aid organization reports. The NGO was established that year after a Syrian Air Force attack on Syrian civilians. Within two years it became a national center for civil defense activities. The group, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, boasts 3,300 volunteers operating over 110 centers around Syria. A documentary about their work won the 2017 Academy Award for best documentary short.

The ex-Pink Floyd singer became a political personality, using his fame and status to fight Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, and speaking on behalf of the BDS movement as well as Black Lives Matter.

Groups and individuals took to Twitter over the weekend to denounce Waters' claim that the White Helmets group is a "fake organization."

The Act for Israel account wrote that Waters is "pathetic" and "a conspiracy nutter, and apologist for the Assad regime."

However, others applauded Waters' harsh words against the rights group, including American far-leftist journalist Max Blumenthal, who wrote "Spanish crowd erupts in cheers as Roger Waters calls the White Helmets a 'fake organization'."