BDS not happy Pharrell is refusing meeting

US singer Pharrell Williams will perform at GrandWest. File picture: Lucas Jackson

US singer Pharrell Williams will perform at GrandWest. File picture: Lucas Jackson

Published Aug 15, 2015

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Johannesburg - Palestine solidarity lobby group, Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) says its latest request to meet US hip-hop star Pharrell Williams has fallen on deaf ears.

The group claims it has tried to facilitate a meeting with the US singer to discuss his collaboration with retailer, Woolworths, but have had no luck.

BDS wants Williams to postpone his Woolworths collaboration until the company boycotts Israel, and to cancel his concert in Israel later this month.

“We have offered to meet Pharrell at any global location of his choice, but still haven’t received any response,” says Muhammed Desai, the national co-ordinator of BDS in South Africa.

In April, Williams announced his collaboration with Woolworths as a style director.

Hours after his announcement, however, the Happy singer was inundated with tweets from members of the public calling on him not to collaborate with Woolworths.

“We reached out to Pharrell, firstly by sending him a letter (which was done privately and only made public a month after there was no response).”

Having had no luck, Desai says they’ve now been “forced” to go ahead with staged protests when the US singer performs in South Africa next month.

Williams will perform in Cape Town on September 21 at the GrandWest Casino before heading to Joburg to perform at the Ticketpro Dome.

The pro-Palestine organisation recently applied to the City of Cape Town to hold a protest on the day of Williams concert, and permission was granted on the basis of the number of protesters being limited to 150.

“We are pushing ahead, even though the Cape Town protest has been limited to 150 people (when we applied for a protest of 50 000),” says Desai

“We will be opposing this unfair restriction and using all available legal means.”

Desai adds that they have also applied to the City of Joburg to hold a protest and are awaiting a response.

“At the Johannesburg protest, we expect around 10 000 people.”

“Pharrell Williams is about to face one of the biggest backlashes any artist has faced in South Africa since apartheid.”

Desai adds they were very disappointed by the US singer’s failure to respond to any of their requests.

“This says a lot about someone claiming to advance human rights, ethics and responsible sourcing.

“The letter we sent to him clearly outlines various serious contradictions in partnering with Woolworths (while it maintains trade with Israel).

“As it stands it would seem that he is continuing with both his upcoming Israel gig as well as his Woolworths concerts.”

In a previously released statement, Woolworths says it did not source produce from Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, and that less than 0.1 percent of its food comes from Israel.

Pharrell is not the first musician to be targeted by BDS, and the group’s previous campaigns have been successful.

In May, Lauryn Hill cancelled a concert in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the behest of BDS and other Palestine solidarity organisations, and last year Sinéad O’Connor withdrew from her show in Israel under similar circumstances. Other musicians, including Thurston Moore and Roger Waters have spoken against Israel and refused to perform in the country, citing their support of BDS.

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Saturday Star

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