Israeli group taking court action for Lorde concert cancellation

An Israeli legal rights group is suing two New Zealanders it blames for convincing pop singer Lorde to cancel her performance in Tel Aviv.

Shurat HaDin confirmed they had filed the lawsuit in a Jerusalem court on behalf of three teenage fans of the popstar.

The case makes use of an Israeli law passed in 2011 that allows civil cases to be opened against those calling for boycotts against Israel.

Shurat HaDin filed the suit in Jerusalem on Tuesday for around £9,000 in damages claiming what it termed “emotional injury”.

The group said it is intended to give “real consequences to those who selectively target Israel and seek to impose an unjust and illegal boycott against the Jewish state”.

Lorde announced late last year that she was cancelling her planned June 2018 concert in Tel Aviv.

Noted! Been speaking w many people about this and considering all options. Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too 🌸
— Lorde (@lorde) December 21, 2017

The decision came after New Zealanders Justine Sachs, who is Jewish, and Nadia Abu-Shanab, from a Palestinian family, urged Lorde to “take a stand” by joining the wider boycott campaign known as BDS and support “an end to Israeli apartheid”.

In a reply on Twitter, Lorde wrote: “Noted! Been speaking [with] many people about this and considering all options. Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too.”

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told The Guardian that the claim represented a “clear and cut case” showing the link between the calls for boycott and the harm this caused.

In response, Ms Sachs took to Twitter to brand the move a “stupid stunt.”