Lorde News: Singer Cancels Israel Concert Following Widespread Online Petitions, Open Letters
Lorde is the latest music artist to cancel an upcoming concert in Israel following protests and online campaigns.
The "Royals" singer was supposed to perform at a Tel Aviv concert but decided not to proceed after she learned about numerous online campaigns and a viral open letter that was addressed to her that explained why she should not be in Israel.
A few days before Christmas, Lorde took to Twitter to acknowledge the open letter that had gone viral. It was written by two people based in New Zealand, the country where Lorde also comes from.
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The letter was penned by a young Jew named Justine Sachs and a Palestinian based in New Zealand, Nadia Abu-Shanab. They both identified as activists who were "against the occupation of Palestine."
One of Lorde's Twitter followers tagged the artist to the link of the open letter, convincing her to read it.
Lorde then responded by saying she had taken note of the appeal and had started speaking with people who knew more about the Israel-Palestine issues. She added: "Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too."
Sachs and Abu-Shanab's letter historicized Israel's "occupation" of Palestine and claimed: "Today, millions of people stand opposed to the Israeli government's policies of oppression, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations, occupation and apartheid."
Meanwhile, other calls for Lorde not to continue the performance in Israel were reportedly made by people supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign, which advocates for the rights of the Palestinian refugees and also calls for the dismantling of the Israeli settlements in Palestine.
Several days later, Lorde's team shared a statement announcing the cancellation of her Israel concert.
"Hey guys, so about this israel show — i've received an overwhelming number of messages & letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and i think the right decision at this time is to cancel the show," Lorde said in the statement.
She added: "I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and i had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in tel aviv, but i'm not too proud to admit i didn't make the right call on this one."
In the end, Lorde expressed her regret of not being able to visit Israel and added that she hoped for a day when "we can all dance."
Naturally, not everyone was happy about Lorde's decision, especially Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, who stated that Lorde - like the name of her first album - should be a "pure heroine" while dismissing the campaigns as "ridiculous."
Lorde followed a number of other artists who have decided to change their concert plans in Israel to protest the country's alleged treatment of the people of Palestine. In 2006, Pink Floyd member Roger Waters moved his supposed Tel Aviv concert to a different venue in Neve Shalom -- known as Israel's peaceful village where Jews and Arabs co-exist.
Stevie Wonder was supposed to perform at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces gala. However, the United Nations Messenger of Peace at the time encountered overwhelming online petitions discouraging him from proceeding with the concert. He later decided not to be in the event and said in a statement: "I am and have always been against war, any war, anywhere."
