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Why Doesn't BDS Boycott Turkey or Russia?
(Independent-UK) Adam Levick - Lana Del Rey's concert in Turkey couldn't reasonably be viewed as a political statement in support of the Erdogan regime and the repression of journalists, academics and civil servants. Similarly, her concert in Russia certainly didn't represent an endorsement of authorities' military aggression in Syria or the annexation of Crimea. Yet, if we were to believe BDS activists, her upcoming performance in Israel - the only free, democratic country in the region - should be viewed through the lens of the Israeli government's alleged actions. The tendency of anti-Israel campaigners to hold Israeli citizens responsible for the actions of their government, while failing to hold citizens of countries with far worse human rights records to the same standard, gets to the heart of the immoral double standards which compromise the BDS movement. Is it even conceivable that activists would put pressure on British institutions to, say, cancel performances from a visiting Russian orchestra to protest Vladimir Putin, or refuse to cooperate with Chinese academics because their research is partially funded by Beijing? The writer is managing editor of UK Media Watch.