Roger Waters has been reported to the counter-terrorism police for expressing support for the newly proscribed Palestine Action. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has reported the 81 year old former member of Pink Floyd to the police after he posted a video of himself on Facebook praising Palestine Action after the proscription had come into effect.
At midnight on Friday 4 July 2025, Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group and on 5 July 2025 at around 8pm BST, Roger Waters posted a video of himself declaiming that he is Spartacus, that he supports Palestine Action, and that Palestine Action is a great organisation and is not violent in any way. His video has so far garnered 205,000 views (around 24 hours after it was posted).
In his video, Roger Waters displays a handwritten sign he has made saying “Roger Waters supports Palestine Action 5th July 2025. Parliament has been corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power. Stand up and be counted. It’s now”, and reads it out. He then states that he is Spartacus and declares his independence from the government of the UK. He states again that he supports Palestine Action, and that it’s a great organization. “They are non-violent they are absolutely not terrorist in any way. They are a non-violent protesting organization, protesting the presence in the UK of Elbit systems who are an Israeli arms manufacturing organization.” He repeats again “I support Palestine Action. And I always will because that is the right thing to do.”
UKLFI has alleged that Roger Waters breached
- section 12(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 (the Act) because he invited support for a proscribed terrorist organisation
- section 12(1A) of the Act because he expressed an opinion or belief supportive of Hamas, being reckless as to whether persons to whom the expression was directed would be encouraged to support Hamas
- section 13(1A) of the Act because he published an image of an article (the handwritten sign that he read out) in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.
Even if Roger Waters was outside the UK when he posted the video, these provisions apply to him as a British citizen in accordance with section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “Palestine Action have been anything but a non-violent organisation, using sledgehammers to smash windows and machinery, and causing millions of pounds of damage over the past few years in order to intimidate the public and certain companies, and to advance their own ideological cause. Their activities fell squarely within the definition of Terrorism under the Act. We hope that the police will act in this case and investigate Mr Water’s ill-judged words and actions.”
The full transcript of Roger Waters’s video is as follows:
“It’s July 5 2025 I am in my little studio. I’ve just been at work at a piece of brown cardboard and a sharpie. I’m going to switch this now to the other lens. It says ‘Roger Waters supports Palestine Action 5th July 2025. Parliament has been corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power. Stand up and be counted its now’. I didn’t have space for ‘or never’. But it’s now that’s enough. I’m just going to switch back.
It‘s now. This is the moment. I am Spartacus. OK, this is Independence Day, July 5th 2025. I declare my independence from the government of the UK who have just designated Palestine Action a terrorist – a proscribed terrorist organization. For the record I support Palestine Action. It’s a great organization. They are non-violent. They are absolutely not terrorist in any way. They are a non-violent protesting organization, protesting the presence in the UK of Elbit Systems who are an Israeli arms manufacturing organization. Alright so that’s that. I support Palestine Action. And I always will because that is the right thing to do. So I saw George Monbiot the journalist said yesterday this is the ‘I Spartacus’ moment. I am Spartacus. So good on you George. And good on everybody who is standing up everywhere. And saying I am Spartacus. We will not be rolled over by this appalling Labour government in the United Kingdom. Palestine Action is not a terrorist organization so they are lying, and they have put their lies into the law of the land. So there we are. That’s all I have to say. Independence, Independence. OK We must support our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We must support them no matter what. So good on you. What was your name. Vilyn. Good on you Vilyn. And the rest of you who are standing up to be counted. I love you. I love you. OK bye.”
On 6th July 2025 at 8.50pm BST, some 24 hours after it was posted, it had received 205K views. 8.1K “likes”, 2.3K “hearts” and 1.9K people had shared it.