Lawsuit for two New Zealand activists who urged Lorde to boycott Israel show

Two New Zealand activists who wrote an open letter urging Lorde to cancel her Tel Aviv concert are being sued by an Israeli legal rights group.

The group, Shurat HaDin, is demanding $13,000 in damages from Wellington journalist Justine Sachs and Auckland teacher and unionist Nadia Abu-Shanab. One is Jewish, the other Palestinian.

Sachs and Abu-Shanab responded to Lorde after she announced on December 18 that she was playing Tel Aviv and Russia in mid-2018 as part of her Melodrama world tour.

They urged her to “take a stand” and “join the artistic boycott of Israel.”

The full letter is available here.

The women said they were working for “an end to Israeli apartheid” and believed “an economic, intellectual and artistic boycott is an effective way of speaking out”.

They told Lorde, “A performance in Israel sends the wrong message.

“Playing in Tel Aviv will be seen as giving support to the policies of the Israeli government, even if you make no comment on the political situation.

Lorde responded in a tweet, “Noted! Been speaking (with) many people about this and considering all options.

“Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too.”

She cancelled the June 5 at the Tel Aviv Convention Centre on December 24, stating. “I’m not too proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one.”

Pro-Israel activists and fans lobbied asking the 21-year-old not to pull out.

Shurat HaDin took legal action on behalf of three teenage Tel Aviv concert goers for “emotional injury”.

Its founder Nitsana Darshan-Leitner stated, “These girls (the three fans) are ideologists.

“They are going into the army next year, and they feel very shamed and hurt by the allegations that the New Zealand activists blamed Israel for.”

The civil action is the first under a contentious law that Israel introduced in 2011 to fight against a global movement calling for boycotts of the Jewish state.

Artists, businesses and universities are calling for boycotts and sanctions on Israel over its policies towards Palestinian settlers and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Critics say it deliberately stifles free expression.

Musicians are split on the merits of a boycott.

Radiohead refused to cancel their show in Tel Aviv, with Thom Yorkecommenting that music is about “crossing borders, not building them.”

Nick Cave continued with his show after heavy lobbying.

After Lorde’s cancellation, 100 artists including Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and author Alice Walker, signed an open letter supporting her.

Israel’s Culture Minister urged her to change her mind. The country’s ambassador to New Zealand asked to meet her.

Some Lorde fans rebuked Lorde that Russia too had a lot of human rights abuses.

In a full page ad in The Washington Post, a US-based rabbi stated “21 is young to become a bigot.”

This week Lorde took out a full page of her own – but on an another issue.

After the Grammys’ snub to female artists, she responded in a major New Zealand newspaper, thanking supporters for “believing in female musicians.”

Lorde was a flashpoint for a debate over female representation at the awards show – and in music.

She was the only female nominated for Album of the Year.

But she was the only nominee in that category not asked to perform solo.

Instead she was invited to join a tribute to the late Tom Petty, which she declined.