Jewish Journal
Aaron Bandler
June 14, 2022
Justin Bieber performs in Pittsburgh Wednesday, July 13, 2016 during the ‘Purpose’ world tour at Consol Energy Center. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com
The pro-Palestinian group “Africa4Palestine” announced on June 14 that some of their members will disrupt Justin Bieber’s upcoming South Africa shows if he doesn’t cancel his upcoming Israel concerts.
In the June 14 announcement, Africa4Palestine said: “Africa4Palestine activists have purchased a large number of tickets and promised to disrupt his upcoming ‘Justice World Tour’ concerts taking place in Cape Town on 28 September 2022 at the DHL Stadium and in Johannesburg on 1 October 2022 at the FNB Stadium. Bieber is being called on by #Africa4Palestine, Canadian organizations (from his birth country), Palestinian civil society, as well as progressive Jewish Israelis to respect the boycott of Apartheid Israel and cancel his 13 October 2022 concert in Tel Aviv.” Africa4Palestine also tweeted that it was an “insult” that Bieber is calling is tour the “Justice” tour when he’s “going to Israel.”
StandWithUs Co-Founder and CEO Roz Rothstein said in a statement to the Journal, “Anti-Israel extremists pressure every major artist in this hateful way, as part of a larger boycott campaign that only fuels division and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Musicians who care about justice and peace should reject calls to cancel shows in Israel and use their music to bring people together.”
Bieber recently canceled his June 13 and 14 concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a “shingles outbreak [that] affects the facial nerve near one of your ears.” Bieber announced in a June 10 Instagram video that he has “full paralysis” on the right side of his face as a result of the disease. “For those who are frustrated by my cancellations of the next shows, I’m just physically obviously not capable of doing them,” he said, per Billboard . “This is pretty serious, as you can see.” Israellycool Israel Advocacy Executive Director David Lange wrote in a blog post that the fact that the activists are threatening to disrupt Bieber’s concerts while he’s dealing with an illness is “Further Proof the Israel-Haters Are Among the S—tiest People on the Planet.”
Back in November, Hamas called on Bieber to “boycott the Zionist occupation state in protest of its repeated crimes against our Palestinian people.” Various Jewish and pro-Israel Twitter users mocked Hamas over the statement.
Read the article here .
