Days after missing a show in Lagos, Nigeria, Lauryn Hill has canceled her performance in Israel.
The embattled singer released a statement via her website, mslaurynhill.com, yesterday (May 4) explaining her decision to forgo her appearance.
“I’ve wanted very much to bring our live performance to this part of the world, but also to be a presence supporting justice and peace,” she wrote. “It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans. For this reason, we have decided to cancel the upcoming performance in Israel, and seek a different strategy to bring my music to ALL of my fans in the region.”
Hill was scheduled to perform on May 7 near Tel Aviv, but faced backlash from organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace who launched a campaign urging the former Fugees singer not to play in a country where Palestinians have lived as refugees or under military occupation for almost 50 years.
Read the full statement below:
Dear Friends and Fans in Israel,
When deciding to play the region, my intention was to perform in both Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Setting up a performance in the Palestinian Territory, at the same time as our show in Israel, proved to be a challenge. I’ve wanted very much to bring our live performance to this part of the world, but also to be a presence supporting justice and peace. It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans. For this reason, we have decided to cancel the upcoming performance in Israel, and seek a different strategy to bring my music to ALL of my fans in the region. May healing, equanimity, and the openness necessary for lasting resolution and reconciliation come to this region and its people.
Respectfully,
Ms. Lauryn Hill
Check out her acoustic apology to Lagos below:
Keep apologizing you troll. Aint no one checking for you Lauryn you wack af now
we love lauryn hill..
nobody is checking for you
Disappointed Lauryn, the same way I am with Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters and all the others constantly trying to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel, but only with “specific” things. They won’t boycott the better treatments for Breast Cancer or The Pacemaker or The Cellphone, or the Desert Eagle.
I expected more, I truly did.
-TalentDisplay.
Nigeria gets an apology in song, Israel gets an apology in letter. Gotta love Ms. Hill!
Good 4 u LH, Israel is an apartheid state
So she scheduled then cancelled to make a statement?
Fuck Lauren Hill! That bitch is a closet racist. And the irony is that she named her damn son Zion. Fuck outta here with that bullshit.
#Displayer
she wants to act like she cares about the worlds problems then cancel shows right when they’re about to happen! sit down and shut up Lauryn!