Singer Lana Del Rey is pushing back at those who’ve criticized her decision to perform in Israel. The “Video Games” songstress is scheduled to perform at the inaugural Meteor Festival, which will take place at Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan outside Tiberias from Sept. 6-8. Del Rey, who is set to headline the lineup on Sept. 7, answered BDS movement supporters on Twitter in response to posts urging her to boycott Israel.
“I believe music is universal and should be used to bring us together,” she tweeted. “We signed on to the show [with] the intention that it would be performed for the kids there and my plan was for it to be done [with] a loving energy [with] a thematic emphasis on peace…We don’t always agree with the politics of the places we play within or even in our own country…but we are musicians and we’ve dedicated our lives to being on the road…I’m doing my best to navigate the waters of the constant tumultuous hardships in the war-torn countries all over the world that I travel through monthly,” she wrote. “I’m doing the best that I can and my intentions are better than most people’s that I know.”
Del Rey, who has never performed in Israel before, will join a festival lineup of more than 50 acts, including ASAP Ferg, Pusha T, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Of Montreal, Ariel Pink and Rhye, in addition to Israeli artists Noga Erez, Geva Alon, and Balkan Beat Box.
