Roger Waters tells Thom Yorke to stop 'whining' over Israel criticism

For those who haven't already heard, Thom Yorke has faced a slew of criticism for Radiohead's decision to play a gig in Israel, which many musicians boycott due to their poor human rights record. The singer himself has come out and defended his position on several occasions, trying to play downplay the political overtones of his decision.

One of the strongest critics of Thom Yorke in recent months has been Roger Waters, who signed an open letter for the Artists For Palestine UK group- along with Thurston Moore and Young Fathers - asking the group to “think again” about their decision amid an ongoing and widespread cultural boycott of the country.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Yorke responded to the letter, describing it as being as “extremely upsetting” and “offensive”, and saying that those who are involved are “wast[ing their] energy”.

In the most recent development of the dispute, Waters addressed the Radiohead singer directly on an hour-long Facebook Live talk with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.

The singer said: “We should observe the picket line. Anybody who’s tempted to do that, like our friends in Radiohead, if only they would actually educate themselves.”

He continued: “I know Thom Yorke’s been whining about how he feels insulted, people are suggesting he doesn’t know what’s going on.

“Well Thom, you shouldn’t feel insulted because if you did know what’s going on, you would have a conversation with Ken Loach, who’s been begging you to have a conversation, or with me, I begged you, Thom”.

Radiohead are scheduled to play in Tel Aviv on July 19.