Brian Eno pens letter in support of Lorde's Israel boycott

The British musician says he applauds Lorde's stance against "apartheid"

Legendary musician Brian Eno has come out in support of Lorde after the New Zealand pop star received criticism for cancelling her concert in Tel Aviv.

"I've received an overwhelming number of messages and letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and I think the right decision at this time is to cancel the show," Lorde said when announcing the cancellation of her June 5 performance.

A US-based pro-Israel group then took out a full page ad in the Washington Post last month, calling the singer-songwriter part of the "global anti-Semitic boycott of Israel".

However, 100 artists, including Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, John Cusack and Mark Ruffalo, have signed a letter in support of the 21-year-old New Zealander, and now Mr Eno has shared an open letter on Twitter to tell the singer he is "personally so grateful" to her.

Mr Eno said he applauds Lorde's stance against "apartheid".

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"I'm personally so grateful to you for having the courage to make this decision," the 69-year-old singer and composer wrote in a letter.

"I think you've made a big difference and you'll be remembered for it.

"I write as one of the millions of people who appreciate what you did.

"I know from my own small experience that you are going to come in for a lot of very nasty comments as a result... You're also going to have a lot of people telling you that you 'don't understand' the situation, that its really much more complex than you think, etc etc.

"Well EVERY situation is more complex than we think, but that's no excuse for saying we should never do anything. This situation has a very complex history, but what's happening now is not hard to understand at all. It's called apartheid."

You can read his full letter here: 

Updated: January 11, 2018, 11:20 AM