High Court rules on meaning of Roger Waters’ statement about producer of our documentary, John Ware

The High Court in London has today ruled on the meaning of Roger Waters’ statement about John Ware, the producer of our documentary, The Dark Side of Roger Waters.

The renowned investigative journalist John Ware sued Mr Waters and the channel Al Jazeera for defamation after Mr Waters called Mr Ware a “lying, conniving Zionist mouthpiece” and accused Mr Ware of “cheerleading the genocide of Palestinians” during an interview on Al Jazeera.

The animus is believed to have been triggered by our documentary, The Dark Side of Roger Waters, which Mr Ware produced and presented. The documentary investigated past conduct by Mr Waters towards individual Jewish people and the Jewish community more generally, revelling previously unknown e-mails and interactions.

Mr Waters repudiated the documentary, but did not question the veracity of its findings.

The Hon. Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady DBE found that Mr Waters’ assertion that Mr Ware is a ’cheerleader of genocide’ was a statement of fact, as opposed to an honest opinion, which will make it harder for Mr Waters and Al Jazeera to defend.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism: “We welcome this judgment on the meaning of Roger Waters’ nonsense rant following John Ware’s production of our documentary, The Dark Side of Roger Waters, exposing Mr Waters’ history of inflammatory conduct towards Jewish people. Those who claim that someone alleging antisemitism is just a ‘cheerleader for genocide’ are just spouting a modernised version of the trope that those who allege antisemitism are merely trying to silence criticism of Israel. Jeremy Corbyn tried it and it doesn’t hold water. It’s a line long used by people like Mr Waters and it is high time that he faces repercussions for his big mouth and long history of Jew baiting.”