Bob Dylan More Influential than Roger Waters on the Rolling Stones when it Comes to Israel

Bob Dylan has avoided talking politics for so long that most people have forgotten this particular ditty of his off the album, Infidels.

Neighborhood Bully.

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad

So this little story shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

While the BDS movement and Pink Floyd’s execrable Roger Waters tried to intimidate the Stones into cancelling their stop in Tel Aviv, one artist was clear-sighted and noble, and encouraged them to go there.

Ronnie Wood, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, revealed Monday that Bob Dylan put the idea in the Stones’ circle to include Israel as a tour stop.

In an interview with Channel 2 in response to written questions ahead of the Stones’ Israel debut on June 4, Wood said that one time after seeing Dylan perform, the singer made the suggestion.

He was coming offstage and said “we’re going to Tel Aviv.” He had a big smile on his face, and he said he loved it there,” said Wood. “I said, we’ve never been there, so we’ll have to go play there one day, so there you go.”

And Roger Waters loses again. Dylan got more done in one line than Waters did in years. That’s true of more than just this.

  • Tim N

    Cool. I’ve been a Dylan fan since I was a kid.

  • chris

    Rogers Waters execrable indeed. Inexplicably he has written some good songs though

    • SCREW SOCIALISM

      I can’t separate ones work from ones politics.

      Bad politics destroys my appreciation of ones work.

  • Abberline

    Waters has zero certifiable victories to his credit. All his so called “victories” are anecdotal.

  • laura r

    dylan likes israel. one of his children is othodox & he helps support the family there. dylan also studied w/the lubavitch group in brooklyn.

  • Johnny Palestine

    Roger Waters, another Jew hating Brit. One must wonder what other races he hates.

    I am so sorry, he is not a Jew hater, he only hates israel.

  • glpage

    This doesn’t have much to do with this article, but, Dylan is a better song writer than Waters.

    • Daniel Greenfield

      well yes, of course

    • jzsnake

      I can’t even believe you mention Waters in the same breath as Dylan in that area.

  • Raymond_in_DC

    Yep. The Stones are slated to play in Tel Aviv in two weeks. (They just announced a delay in their start-time to allow observant Jews to arrive after the Shavuot holiday and not miss the Stones’ set.)

    Justin Timberlake (OK, not my style) just played before 40,000 fans in Tel Aviv this week. He earlier made a stop at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Pro-boycott Palestinians really didn’t like that. Tough.) And Roger Waters is sitting sulking over yet another BDS-fail.

    • SCREW SOCIALISM

      G-d Bless Bob Dylan.
      G-d Bless Justin Timberlake.
      G-d Bless the Rolling Stones.

      Eternal Nakba for roger waters and Pal-e-SWINE.

    • laura r

      the stones were never into politics.

  • SCREW SOCIALISM

    I LOVE the lyrics of Neighbor Hood Bully.

  • tagalog

    I’ve never heard the song “Neighborhood Bully,” but judging from the lyrics, it’s rightfully one of Dylan’s lesser efforts.

    For political Dylan songs, I always was partial to:

    “The South politician who preaches to the poor white man
    ‘You got more than the blacks, don’t complain,
    You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,’ he explains
    As the Negro’s name is used in its something
    While the poor white remains
    On the caboose of the train
    But it ain’t him to blame
    He’s Only A Pawn In Their Game.”

  • Larry in Tel Aviv

    Always knew Bob Dylan was a supporter of Israel, he’s not one of these know-nothing liberal JINOs. Always knew right from wrong. Pink Floyd have always been very popular in Israel, still are, but maybe a little less over the last few years, because of Roger Waters’s Jew-hatred.

  • miloui

    Because you don’t agree with Israel’s politics does not mean you hate Jews. People need to learn how to separate people from politics. I am not my government. Many Jews do not hate Palestinians. Until we can see the difference the hate, the wars, the lies go on.