Del Rey postpones Israel gig after boycott pressure
American singer Lana Del Rey said on Friday that she was postponing a performance in Israel after failing to set up a show in Palestine.
The cancellation came after a campaign by pro-Palestinian groups calling for a cultural boycott of Israel over its occupation of the West Bank.
“It’s important to me to perform in both Palestine and Israel and treat all my fans equally,” Del Ray, 33, who had been scheduled to perform at a festival in northern Israel this month, wrote on Twitter.
“Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible to line up both visits with such short notice. Therefore, I’m postponing my appearance at the Meteor Festival until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans.”
Del Rey faced pressure from supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement seeking to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
A petition, saying Del Rey’s performance would “cover up gross violations of human rights” and calling on her to cancel the show, gathered more than 14,500 signatures.
She had defended her decision to perform in Israel, saying “music is universal and should be used to bring us together”. She said her show would not be “a political statement or a commitment to the politics there”.
In 2014, Del Rey cancelled a performance in Tel Aviv because of a war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Israel says the boycott movement is anti-Semitic, a claim campaigners deny.
Several musicians have called off shows in Israel over the past years, including Lauryn Hill and Elvis Costello.