1 Feb 2018

NZ activists face legal action over Lorde's Israel snub

From Morning Report, 7:25 am on 1 February 2018

Two New Zealand activists who urged Lorde to to cancel her Israel concerts are being sued by an Israeli legal rights group. Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab wrote an open letter to Lorde last year asking her to "take a stand" and "join the artistic boycott of Israel".

The Grammy award-winning star later did cancel her Israel shows. Shurat HaDin, or the Israel Law Centre, is suing Ms Sachs and Ms Abu-Shanab under a controversial anti-boycott law which has reportedly never been used before. The Israel Law Centre's Nitsana Darshan-Leitner joins Guyon Espiner to discuss the issue.

"If Lorde would've had the guts to come here & see from her own eyes, she'd see Israel is the most democratic state, not in the world but in the Middle East," she says.