Lana Del Rey Replies To Criticism Of Israel Performance, Says She Wants Peace

Lana Del Rey has recently been criticized for her upcoming performance in Israel, where she will be headlining the inaugural Meteor Festival. The festival will take place over three days and features over 50 international and local acts, according to its website.

In a couple of Notes app screenshots posted to Twitter, the singer acknowledged that people were upset, but affirmed that she would be continuing with the plan to perform at Meteor Festival.

“I understand your concern I really do. What I can tell you is I believe music is universal and should be used to bring us together,” Del Rey wrote. “We signed on to the show with the intention that it would be performed for the kids there and my plan was for it to be done with a loving energy [and] thematic emphasis on peace.”

Fans on Twitter were not thrilled with this response, mocking the suggestion that Del Rey could fix — or do anything towards fixing — one of the most tense political situations in the world.

Del Rey also wrote that “performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement,” to which many replied that everything is political and that the Israeli government was specifically marketing her performance in the country.

After continued criticism, the singer posted a follow up Notes app statement on Instagram. She said that wanted to show support for Palestinians so when she’s in Israel, she will also be visiting Palestine. “I look forward to meeting both Palestinian and Israeli children and playing music for everyone. I want peace for both Israel and Palestine.”

Folks have been quick to compare Del Rey’s response to this criticism to Lorde’s response when she canceled a show in Israel at the end of 2017. When Lorde canceled she stated that she prides herself on being informed, but that in this case, she had made the wrong decision to perform in Tel Aviv.

These calls for artists to cancel their performances are part of the larger Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which is a global campaign that seeks to isolate Israel economically in order to pressure the state to withdraw from its occupation. Lorde’s case was the first where Israel used its recently enacted anti-boycott law to sue the activists who convinced Lorde to cancel her show. It is an extremely tense and complicated situation and yeah, doesn’t seem like positive vibes are going to fix that — sorry Lana.