Two New Zealand pro-Palestinian activists have raised NZ$14000 (US$ 9108) as of Sunday for charity after being fined by an Israeli court for their alleged role in persuading pop star Lorde to cancel a concert in Tel Aviv last year.
Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab said last week they would not pay the fine of 45000 shekels ($12423) awarded to three Israeli teenagers calling the court’s ruling a “stunt” intended to intimidate Israel’s critics.
Instead they asked people to donate money through website “givealittle.co.nz” to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation a volunteer group that raises funds for mental health and women’s empowerment groups in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
As of Sunday they raised NZ$14000 according to the website.
“Given that we’ve actually had this kind of push upon us – we felt that it was expedient to actually recenter the issue back on Palestine” Abu-Shanab told Radio New Zealand.
The case arose from an open letter that Sachs and Abu-Shanab wrote to Lorde a New Zealander on the website “thespinoff.co.nz” in December urging her to call off her planned concert.
Lorde cancelled her concert in Israel that same month after a campaign by the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group which campaigns for Palestinian rights that included the open letter published by Sachs and Abu-Shanab.
