Lana Del Rey postpones Israel performance

Lana Del Rey was among the artists set to play Israel’s Meteor Festival in September (along with A$AP Ferg, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, DJ Koze, Pusha T, Soulwax, Battles, of Montreal, Rhye, Ariel Pink, and more), and she defended her decision to perform in the country after facing opposition, including from Roger Waters. “Performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement,” she said.

Lana also said, “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.” The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) said, “We would welcome you to Palestine should you cancel your Meteor performance […] but we cannot accept your token gesture as you step across our boycott picket line.”

Lana has now postponed her plans to perform in Israel, writing:

It’s important to me to perform in both Palestine and Israel and treat all my fans equally. Unfortunately it hasn’t been possible to line up both visits with such short notice and therefore I’m postponing my appearance at the Meteor Festival until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans, as well as hopefully other countries in the region.

Stay tuned for any further updates.