Lorde’s songs have disappeared from Apple Music in Israel after the New Zealand-born pop star yelled “free f–king Palestine” during a concert in New York City this week.
The kerfuffle was ignited by viral clips that showed the 28-year-old Lorde performing her hit song “Team” during a show at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
As she prepared to belt out the chorus, Lorde exclaimed, “free f—ing Palestine!”
The stage lighting alternated between red, green, white and black — the colors of the flag representing the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Visitors to the Apple Music streaming service Israel were unable to access Lorde’s library of songs as of Thursday, according to a report in the Hebrew-language web site Ynet.
Her songs were still available on Apple Music in the US as of Friday afternoon.
The Post has asked Apple whether it or another entity pulled Lorde’s songs in Israel, and whether the removal was done with the US-based corporate office’s blessing.
The Post has also sought comment from Lorde.
The artists is reportedly a signatory to the “No Music for Genocide” boycott, in which hundreds of artists have pledged to “geo-block” their songs from streaming in Israel.
Lorde’s tunes remain available to Israel’s Spotify subscribers, according to Ynet.
The singer was in New York this week for a sold-out show at MSG.
The pop star is currently in the midst of her “Ultrasound World Tour” to promote her latest album, “Virgin.”
The Kiwi pop star has waded into the sensitive Israel-Palestine conflict in years past.
In 2017, she cancelled a planned concert in Tel Aviv under pressure from activists who backed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
BDS proponents have urged artists to take part in a cultural boycott of Israel.
Supporters of Israel have denounced BDS as an antisemitic movement that singles out the Jewish state for criticism.
Apple has historically declined to take a position on the Israel-Palestine conflict despite pressure from pro-Palestinian activists who have demanded that the tech giant sever ties with Israel.
The iPhone maker has a significant presence in Israel, which has a robust tech and startup ecosystem.
Other Silicon Valley companies have been the subject of protests by employees and activists over commercial ties to Israel’s military.
Microsoft recently sought assistance from the FBI after pro-Palestinian employees and activists staged a kayak-based protest near the lakefront homes of its top two executives.
Google workers have held demos at company events where they have denounced the tech giant’s work on Project Nimbus, a cloud-computer project that provides technology to the Israeli military.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
