Singer Lana Del Rey isn’t backing out of her planned show in Israel, despite heavy pressure on her to do so, issuing a statement via social media on Tuesday rejecting calls by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame to drop out of a music festival in northern Israel.
Elizabeth Grant, better known by her performing name Lana Del Rey, is slated to perform at the Meteor Festival in northern Israel on September 7th.
It wasn’t long before the singer-songwriter was inundated with calls from supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement as well as prominent anti-Israel activists like Roger Waters to back out of the appearance.
Despite the pressure, on Sunday the singer took to Twitter to assure fans she would not be cancelling her planned appearance.
“I would like to remind you that performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement or a commitment to the politics there just as singing here in California doesn’t mean my views are in alignment with my current government’s opinions or sometimes inhuman actions.”
On Tuesday, Waters responded with a Facebook comment directed at Lana Del Rey.
In his post, Waters decried Israel as an “apartheid state”, and said a visit to Israel is inherently ‘a political act”.
“I implore you, and any other act considering crossing the picket line, to perform at the Meteor Festival to consider long and hard, I have no doubt the Israeli promoters are paying top dollar, they are well known for that, but is the price worth passing up your moment on the road to Damascus and abandoning your Palestinian brothers and sisters to their fate in their hour of need?”
Hours later, Lana Del Rey responded to Waters via Instagram, reiterating that she would not cancel her show, while adding that she “understand[s] the concern” regarding Palestinian Authority residents.
The singer vowed to visit the Palestinian Authority, and meet with both Israeli and Arab children.
“We will be still playing our show in Israel. That being said, I understand the concern towards showing support to the Palestinians too. So I just wanted to let you know when I’m in Israel I will be visiting Palestine too and I look forward to meeting both Palestinian and Israeli children and playing music for everyone. I want peace for both Israel and Palestine.”
Earlier this year, pop star Lorde cancelled her concert in Israel after pro-Palestinian Arab fans in her native New Zealand criticized her.
Lorde later justified her decision, claiming it was the right one and adding, “I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and I had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in Tel Aviv, but I’m not too proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one. Tel Aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and I’m truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. I hope one day we can all dance.”