Lana Del Rey promises to visit Palestine during Israel trip and says she wants peace for both sides

The musician has been criticised for her plans to perform in Israel

Lana Del Rey has promised to visit Palestine after her plans to perform in Israel were criticised by pro-Palestine campaigners. 

The singer is due to appear at Meteor Festival in Lehavot HaBashan’s Pecan Park between September 6 and 8. Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, A$AP Ferg and more are also booked to perform.

Del Rey has already defended her decision to play in the country, tweeting on Sunday (August 19): “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 w my current governments opinions.”

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Posting on Instagram today (August 21), she repeated that she would still perform in Israel, despite being pressured to pull out. “My views on democracy and oppression are aligned with most liberal views,” she wrote.

“We will still be 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.”

She concluded her note with a message for Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters, who has been vocal of his support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes a cultural boycott of Israel. “I read your statement about taking action even when you believe in neutrality,” she wrote. “I totally understand what you’re saying and this is my action.”

Dear Lana Del ReyI have been reading your comments on Twitter, maybe I can help clear a couple of things up. Palestine…

Posted by Roger Waters on Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Earlier in the day, Waters had posted a message on his Facebook page addressed to Del Rey. “I have been reading your comments on Twitter, maybe I can help clear a couple of things up,” he wrote. “Palestine is a unique situation in that the BDS picket line exists at the request of Palestine civil society as a whole. To respect it as I, and many others do, is a political act of support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for basic human rights.

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“To cross it, conversely, is a political act in support of the apartheid state that would deny them those basic human rights. Even if in your heart of hearts you believe yourself to be neutral. As Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu rightly says, ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.'”

Del Rey previously cancelled a show in Israel in 2014, which was set to be her first performance in the country. Last year, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Radiohead both appeared in the country, despite opposition from campaigners.

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