It’s never comfortable to talk disagreeably about someone. As a mother, a teacher of young children and independent producer of documentary films, I always like to uplift and champion those who struggle through issues as a means to provide a sense of hope and healing. But, there are times in life that you need to come clean with uncomfortable truths to ensure you are not living a comfortably numb life.

So, I’m shooting from the hip on this one, in the hopes that this story will create enough of a ruckus to produce an apology from Roger Waters and Mona Miari to a nice old Jewish man who is currently living in a homeless shelter while championing for a tiny home village for artists in Los Angeles. He was utterly sabotaged by Roger Waters and Mona Miari. I witnessed it all.

In fact, Roger and Mona’s outrageous claims and accusations were not just about this old man, but they impacted me, too. And it’s time to hold people accountaable. . . never accept anyone feeling that they can get away with exploiting, walking on and sabolaging the good work of others. We have enough of those kind of people in the world who are making all of us miserable. What we need is respect.

The nice old Jewish man is named Maurice Jacobson. He’s been an independent filmmaker for years, always financially extending himself on projects that are steeped in human rights and justice issues. He got involved with Gaza shortly after a heart attack some 12 years ago, a passion project to help share an injustice against people he had grown to respect and understand. He traveled to Gaza twice, lived there, became collaborators with Gazan artists and journalists, ome of whom he considers nothing less than family.

I met him during a screening. I recognized an old guy trying to do the right thing but taking on too much on his own. Being in a unique situation, as I was leaving my apartment to tend to my aging parents, I figured I could help him get organized, find editors, help with funding and finish a film he called We All Live in Gaza (www.we-gaza.com). He had incredible footage, plus insiders who carried integrity and skill, and were dealing with the most horrific slaughtering we all witnessed on our phones. His film needed shaping, lots of editing, as wellas a team. He was on track to creating a powerhouse project.

Maurice and I were in New York, building a team. But I had to return to my father who was preparing for radiation treatment. I was my dad’s sole caretaker who could drive him to the hospital every day for two weeks and be there for my mom. Being married for sixty plus years, they had endured horrific politics themselves that nearly ruined them. I set Maurice up with an Arabic translater who also happened to be Palestinian. Bless her heart, she took Maurice out on the town one evening and attended a concert with Mona Miari. He called me right away and said that her music needed to be in the film.

Maurice is a dreamer. He thinks big even if his pocketbook isn’t. I keep telling him he has an angel on his shoulder, given every time he’s broke, somehow something comes through and he keeps plugging away on his film or art gallery presentations by the stunning artists he met in Gaza. Many of them are women. And he champions them.

After spending all his money on footage in Gaza an wondering how to edit and complete the project, one of those angels seemed to come through. Roger Waters with funding. Getting a big name like his would seem like a blessing. Through no contract, Maurice share with him the vision, asked if he could use his music studio. He wanted to fly Mona Miari from France to Los Angeles to record an Arabic version of Comfortably Numb.

“Maurice, there are so many local singers who could do this. Why Mona? We don’t have the budget if you want this film completed.” I repeatedly said to him, sometimes feeling exhausted that his big ideas just kept getting bigger. I had not only spent over a year on the project, mostly without changing for a small stipend to cover my bills, but it had been a hardship on my own folks at a difficult time. I wanted to see this project completed.

“She’s the one,” he smiled. He went on and on about the beauty of her voice.

I flew to Los Angeles from San Francisco, after lining up support for my parents while I was gone, worried all the time that my dad would have another situation that would send us back to the hospital. My poor mother was filled with worry. But, perhaps, like Maurice, I had big ideas for peace in the world. I could not stand by comfortably numb while my tax dollars fed an atrocious slaughter of men, women and children without a diplomat’s voice, such as Jimmy Carter or former Senator George Mitchell. Where are our peacekeepers?

We picked up Mona at the airport. Maurice and I stayed in a cheap hostel, as we always did, and put her up in a nice room. We were booked at the studio in two days and that’s when the dream hit reality. And it hit hard.

Roger Waters emailed demanding a zoom meeting with his producers. We all got online and it was clear something didn’t align and I wasn’t mentally prepared for what felt like an abusive, dominating and controlling tone instead of what I believed should have been a collaborative, supporting intention. He kept calling me Margaret, which pissed me off right away.

“I want a demo tape. What are you doing!” Etc. etc. This also stunned Maurice who had been completely and utterly transparent with his intentions and effort.

After the call Maurice, Mona and I talked. Mona is young. And to her credit, she took the opportunity in a positive way. She hustled to find a studio to record. Meanwhile our four day plan turned into a two week endeavor, plus expenses which completely broke us. Maurice stayed in a hostel and set her up in a nice Airbnb. I went back to San Francisco, figuring it’d be cheaper than paying for my lodging while this got sorted out. I was available by phone. Mona had a friend come out from New York, which Maurice paid for, belieeving she could help with editing the project and do a new budget. She didn’t do any editing but she did write a new budget which pretty much eliminated me and even Maurice! Then things turned very sour.

A string of calls I got from Mona, crying her eyes out. A distrust had grown, or perhaps an agenda. Mona was going over Maurice. She not only started directly communicating with Roger Waters, but she began to create sabotaging stories about him. I tried to be the calm voice but everything spun quickly out of control. We weren’t sure we’d even get the demo tape from Mona to give to Roger Waters, as we had promised. With great reluctance,e Mona did, but the damage had been done. But, still Maurice kept a smile.

The following monring I met with Maurice. “Did you hear the demo?” he asked me. I had. And it was truly stunning, a kind of power that literally goes into your bones to make you feel something. But still, the ugliness of her and Roger had also played out. I wanted to know how Maurice was feeling about that, as it was clear Maurice was out of the game.

“It was a painful birth,” he said smiling.

We got a letter from Roger Waters accusing Maurice of all sorts of impropriety, including using Israeli music for the film, cheating the Gazan artists and worse. Mona reached out to all the artists Maurice had championed over the last ten years with art shows, exhibits and film projects, turning them against him and me. All of it was totally untrue. The fact was, she totally sabotaged us in order to go for the big cheese. And she did. Not only that, but she tried to take over the entire film project. “Get the old man out,” referring to Maurice, one of Roger Water’s producers said to me.

I love music and I even like the song Comfortably Numb. Mona’s contribution to that song is incredible, and I wish her a stunning career. However, I will never live comfortably numb without speaking out and demanding a public apology from both Roger Waters and Mona Miari to both Maurice Jabobson and myself. And, yes, fair payment for our work.

And I demand Roger Waters and Mona Miari credit Mauice Jacobson, a nice old Jewish who is currenlty living in a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. Maurice Jacobson is still making videos about Gaza. And he is now championing homeless artists in Los Angeles. I keep telling him he’s got an angel on his shoulder, as he just never gives up believing in peace and the power of art to heal, something that we all should champion.