Lauryn Hill has pulled the plug on her concert in Israel just three days before she was scheduled to perform - So what's her excuse?
The former member of the Fugees took to Facebook Monday, explaining that she cancelled her Tel Aviv performance on Thursday because she was unable to arrange a separate concert in Palestinian Ramallah.
Hill had reportedly planned to perform in both areas but holding a concert in Ramallah "proved to be a challenge."
"When deciding to play the region, my intention was to perform in both Tel Aviv and Ramallah," she wrote on Facebook Monday. "Setting up a performance in the Palestinian Territory, at the same time as our show in Israel, proved to be a challenge."
The singer said she wanted her performance in the region "to be a presence supporting justice and peace," adding, "It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans. For this reason, we have decided to cancel the upcoming performance in Israel and seek a different strategy to bring my music to ALL of my fans in the region."
Hill concluded her post, writing, "May healing, equanimity, and the openness necessary for lasting resolution and reconciliation come to this region and its people."
The show's cancellation comes after the singer was she was targeted by Palestinian activists, who use the hashtag #KillingMeSoftly - in reference to Hill's 1996 hit with the Fugees - to convince the singer to cancel her show.
"We're delighted that Lauryn Hill has decided not to perform in Israel. A growing number of mainstream artists are catching up with public opinion and now understand that playing in Israel helps it to whitewash its colonial oppression of Palestinians. Israeli promoters are finding it increasingly difficult to book big names to perform in Israel," Haidar Eid, a Gaza-based steering committee member with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said in a press release.
