Hamas joins BDS calls for Justin Bieber to cancel Israel concert

Hamas on Friday joined calls for Justin Bieber to cancel his upcoming concert in Israel and asked the singer to boycott "the Zionist occupation state" in solidarity with Palestine, according to the SAWA news agency.

The Palestinian faction's department of artistic reproduction condemned and denounced the planned concert in Tel Aviv - due to form part of Bieber's 'Justice' world tour in October 2022 - in a statement to the Palestinian news outlet.

Calls for the concert's cancellation have been widespread across social media since Bieber announced his tour on Monday, with  tickets due to go on sale for on Friday. A petition launched by NGOs against the event has so far gathered over 3,700 signatures.

"We call on [Bieber] to cancel the scheduled concert and boycott the zionist occupation state in protest of its repeated crimes against our Palestinian people," Hamas said.

Many fans also displayed anger at the singer's plans to immediately travel from a state that "defeated apartheid" - South Africa - to a state that is "practising apartheid", for his performance.

Justin Bieber is really going straight from SA to Israel. From a country that fought apartheid to a country that's practicing apartheid. Lmao what a joke.

— Z a a k i r a h (@Maybe_Later_z) November 15, 2021

Others said they would no longer attend the tour.

Extremely disappointed that Justin Bieber is playing Isra£l afterwards 💀. I’ve been to every concert he’s had in SA but this time it’s a miss from me🇵🇸 https://t.co/bmv2t178sX

— Tasneem de Villiers (@tasneemdv) November 16, 2021

Some even accused Bieber of supporting "land theft" and "genocide".

Justin Bieber supports apartheid, land theft and genocide, to perform in Israel 🇮🇱 in 2022 https://t.co/veL9Q0TogX

— Prinz Eugen 🌟 Plandemic Is Over 💉 (@PrinzEu29528267) November 16, 2021

Code Pink, a Women-led grassroots organisation "working to support peace [and] human rights", began the 3,700+ signature-rich petition stating that by cancelling his concert, Bieber would "send a strong message that Palestinians, like all people, deserve equal rights and freedom". 

In the petition, they also drew attention to NGO Human Rights Watch's declaration last April that Israel is practising crimes against humanity of apartheid.