An open letter to Lorde from a devastated fan

Dear Lorde,

I’m a student from London and a big fan of yours. When I found out that you had cancelled your tour date in Tel Aviv, I was quite honestly heartbroken. As a Jew in a school where the majority of my friends are Muslim, I have been heavily exposed to both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. I believe cancelling your concert was wrong and sends a very confusing message.

I really respect you for considering many options to shape your own point of view. Nevertheless, you have only responded to one letter publicly, which contains many falsehoods. I believe it is imperative to ascertain the actual truth, rather than information strung together to fit a certain narrative. While Israel certainly is not perfect, it is definitely not as bad as the letter makes out. And it does seem strange to boycott only one country, a democracy, when there are so many with problems and issues.

The letter states that Israel is an apartheid state, similar to South Africa. This is entirely untrue. In South Africa, black people were denied the right to vote, were moved from their houses into segregated “tribal homelands”, could not marry white people, and so forth.

In Israel, Arabs have voting rights and can sit in the Knesset. Arabic is an official language in Israel and unlike apartheid South Africa, land is not allocated based on ethnicity, so this comparison is ludicrous. Arabs and Jews can also marry who they want to.

Of course there is separation between Jewish and Arab people, and I’m not denying that there are racial tensions. However, calling Israel an apartheid state cheapens the legacy of apartheid and devalues the struggle of those who fought against it.

The letter states that Israel’s illegal settlements break the Geneva convention, which is true. However, it fails to mention Hamas’s human shields, which also break it. I’m certainly not saying that two wrongs make a right, but it seems hypocritical to blame one side and not the other.

Furthermore, you are playing St. Petersburg and Moscow when Russia has broken the convention for its actions in Ukraine. How can you pull out of one concert and not the other?

The letter states that by playing in Israel, you would be “giving support to the policies of the Israeli government”, yet the writers are not upset about the Russian concerts. Does playing them mean you support the Russian antigay purge in Chechnya?

It also praises your commitment to the “empowerment of women [and] the LGBTIQ community”, so surely they must believe you should cancel your concerts in Russia too. On the other hand, Israel is the best country in the Middle East for women’s and LGBTIQ rights, with one of the world’s largest Pride events. It’s confusing that you refuse to play in Israel but continue to hold concerts in Russia.

Cancelling your concert in Israel simply emboldens people who want to destroy the country. Why punish people who were looking forward to your concert? Music is supposed to unite people rather than divide them.

I think you made the wrong decision, and I hope you play Israel in the future. In my opinion, doing what is right is better than some bad PR. Best wishes,

Jess

Why cancel concerts in Israel but not in Russia?