Singer Lorde Cancels Israel Show amid Boycott Calls

Ankara, MINA – The New Zealand singer Lorde has called off her planned concert in Israel amid an online campaign opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

“I’ve received an overwhelming number of messages and 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,” Anadolu Agency quoted Lorde as saing in a statement.

The concert, which was due to be held on June 5 in Tel Aviv as part of her 2018 world tour, is one of the cultural events that had been cancelled as part of the campaign by Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

BDS Movement is a global campaign to increase economic and political pressure on Israel to end violations of international law.

The campaign was launched “to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law”, according to its website.

Some artists, such as Roger Waters and Elvis Costello also cancelled their shows in support of the campaign.

On Dec. 6, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, drawing condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world and sparking angry protests across the Palestinian territories.

Since then, at least 15 Palestinians have been martyred — and thousands more injured — in clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)