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Washington Post Ad Calls Singer Lorde a Bigot Over Cancelled Israeli Show

A backlash against New Zealand singer Lorde continues in the wake of her decision to call off her concert in Israel amid pressure from her fans following Trump's Jerusalem move.
Sputnik

A full-page advertisment calling Lorde a bigot and accusing New Zealand of harboring a bias against Israel appeared on the fifth page of the Washington Post’s December 31 edition.

READ MORE: Singer Lorde Gives in to Pressure, Cancels Tel Aviv Show

The ad features Lorde's photo over the picture of men running through ruins with babies and Israeli flags streaming in the wind. The headline says "Lorde and New Zealand ignore Syria to attack Israel."

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It slams the 21-year-old singer's decision to cancel a concert in Tel Aviv following a wellspring of Muslim fans urging her not to go there, noting that she had joined the global boycott of Israel but "will perform in Russia, despite Putin's support for Assad's genocide in Syria."

The advertisement adds that Lorde's move shows how a "growing prejudice against the Jewish State" in New Zealand is "trickling down to its youth."

As for New Zealand, the ad points out the country's support for the UN resolution urging the US to revoke its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, while citing New Zealand's co-sponsorship of a UN resolution condemning illegally-built Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. The resolution, which was approved by every member of the UN Security Council except the US (which abstained), was endorsed by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

"Let's boycott the boycotters and tell Lorde and her fellow bigots that Jew-hatred has no place in the twenty-first century," the ad reads.

Commenting on the advertisement in the Post, the New Zealand Jewish Council said that the council is "committed to dialogue and tolerance and distances itself from the inflammatory and aggressive material that stoops to the level of BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement] rather than rising above it."

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"We are disappointed with Lorde's decision to cancel her show after pressure from the discriminatory BDS movement and invite Lorde to continue learning about the region," the council's statement reads.

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Lorde called off her June concert in Tel Aviv, giving in to the mounting pressure from activists of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), which aims "to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law," according to its official website.

She was also influenced by an open letter written by her fans from New Zealand, which stated that the show in Tel Aviv would demonstrate support for Israel's occupation of Palestine.

"I've received an overwhelming number of messages & 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," Lorde said, as quoted by Naranjah, the Israeli promoters of her show.

The decision was made after what the New Zealand pop star deemed as her "learning all the time" and "considering all options" available to her.

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