Roger Waters offers Lorde support

8 January 2018

Roger Waters and Brian Eno are among the stars to have offered their support to Lorde after she cancelled her Israel show.

Roger Waters

The Pink Floyd star and the 69-year-old musician were joined by the likes of Peter Gabriel and Tom Morello in signing an open letter backing the 'Royals' hitmaker after rabbi Shmuley Boteach branded her a "bigot" in a full-page ad in the Washington Post.

In an open letter, published in the Guardian newspaper, Lorde's star supporters wrote: "We write in support of Lorde, who made public her decision not to perform in Israel and has now been branded a bigot in a full page advertisement in the Washington Post (Report, 1 January).

"Shmuley Boteach, the author and promoter of the advert, supports Israel's illegal settlements and wrote last month on Breitbart to thank Donald Trump for "electrifying the world" with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in defiance of international law.

"He has nothing to teach artists about human rights. We deplore the bullying tactics being used to defend injustice against Palestinians and to suppress an artist's freedom of conscience. We support Lorde's right to take a stand. (sic)"

Other stars who signed the letter include musicians Kathleen Hanna and David Gray, as well as actors Mark Ruffalo, Viggo Mortensen, and director Ken Loach.

Lorde was due to perform in Tel Aviv as part of her 'Melodrama World Tour' on June 5, 2018.

But she axed the gig after receiving "an overwhelming number of messages" asking her to cancel the show due to the ongoing cultural boycott of the country, a protest against the Israeli government's policies, occupation of Palestine, and treatment of the Palestinian people.

The 21-year-old singer's announcement read: "hey guys, so about this israel show - 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. i pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and i had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in tel aviv, but I'm not too proud to admit i didn't make the right call on this one. tel aviv, it's been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and i'm truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. i hope one day we can all dance. L x (sic)"