LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Lorde has cancelled a concert scheduled for Tel Aviv on June 5 after criticism by anti-Israel activists urging continued boycotts of the country. The “BDS” movement, which stands for boycott, divestment and sanctions, organises social media campaigns to discourage artists from performing in Israel. It has seen some success ( Elvis Costello , Thurston Moore and Lauryn Hill all cancelled appearances in Israel), but also pronounced rebuttals by the likes of Radiohead and Nick Cave .
Lorde’s announcement, distributed on social media and by her booking agency CAA, reads:
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. 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. tel aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and i’m truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. i hope one day we can all dance. L x
Read the full article by Shirley Halprin at The Fix.