Two New Zealanders are being sued in an Israeli court for allegedly convincing Kiwi pop star Lorde to cancel her concert performance in the Middle Eastern country.
Jewish New Zealander Justine Sachs and Palestinian New Zealander Nadia Abu-Shanab wrote an open letter on website The Spinoff, calling on the 21-year-old songstress to cancel her June 2018 show in Tel Aviv.
They argued it would show support for Israel's occupation of Palestine.
"Noted! Been speaking w many people about this and considering all options. Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too," Lorde tweeted in response last December.
Days later, she cancelled the show.
On Wednesday, Israeli rights group Shurat HaDin hit back at the cancellation, saying on Twitter it had filed a lawsuit against Ms Sachs and Ms Abu-Shanab in Jerusalem's High Court of Justice.
The suit was on behalf of three Lorde fans who were disappointed at being unable watch her perform in Tel Aviv.
It was lodged under a 2011 Israeli law that, while untested in court, was designed to allow civil suits to be brought against anyone calling for a boycott against the country, the Associated Press reports.
"This lawsuit is an effort to give real consequences to those who selectively target Israel and seek to impose an unjust and illegal boycott against the Jewish state," Shurat HaDin head and lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said.
Ms Sachs responded on Twitter, saying: "Israel the only 'democracy' in the Middle East where New Zealanders get sued for exercising their freedom of speech.....in New Zealand."
Lorde had been scheduled to play in Tel Aviv's 15,000-seat Convention Centre on June 5 before cancelling the show on Christmas Day.
