Roseanne Barr slams 'bigot' Lorde for cancelling Israel tour, calls for boycott

  • 26/12/2017

Emmy Award winner Roseanne Barr has slammed Lorde's cancellation of her Israel concert, labelling her a "bigot" and calling for fans to boycott her.

The Kiwi songstress cancelled plans to perform amid a backlash from Palestinian rights campaigners.

Lorde released a statement to The Jerusalem Post reporter Amy Spiro, explaining her reasons for cancelling.

"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," she said.

"I'm not too proud to admit I didn't make the right call on this one. I'm truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you.

"I hope one day we can all dance."

But Barr wasn't having a bar of it.

"Boycott this bigot," she wrote on Twitter, alongside an article about the show's cancellation.

"Lorde caves to BDS pressure, cancels Israel concert.

"She's so privileged that she's SCARED that she might have to live one second in the face of fascist anti-Semitism (that she approves of) like the Israelis/Jews do."

BDS, or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, is a global campaign attempting to increase pressure on Israel to end what it describes as violations of international law.

The official BDS Movement account retweeted praise for Lorde for cancelling the concert.

A non-profit organisation dedicated to "countering the cultural boycott of Israel" also urged her to ignore pleas for her to join the boycott.

CCFP told Newshub she shouldn't give in to the "artistic censorship" that a boycott of Israel would represent.

This was backed up by Jewish groups in New Zealand.

"We are deeply disappointed that Lorde has succumbed to a small but loud group of extremist bullies. Boycotts of Israel will not lead to peace. Those who advocate them are not interested in negotiations between the two sides to this conflict or a two-state solution," says spokesperson for the Jewish Council, Juliet Moses.

But Janfrie Wakim, spokesperson for the New Zealand Palestine Solidarity Network, told Newshub she's "delighted" Lorde has reconsidered.

"We were very distressed because we knew that this was a very significant indication of her seeming support for the policies of the Israeli Government, and particularly this brutal occupation that Palestinians have suffered under for 50 years.

"We were unsure as to why this had happened but we thought it was a very unwise move and obviously she has heeded particularly the letter of the young Palestinian and Jewish women here in Aotearoa to think again."

Newshub.