BDS protest at Pharrell Williams’ S. Africa gig
Cape Town pro-Palestinian demo far smaller than predicted
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside a concert in Cape Town, South Africa, by the American pop star Pharrell Williams.
Reports put the number of protesters in front of the GrandWest casino on Monday night at between 500 and 2,000. Organizers from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement had predicted that 16,000 protesters would attend, according to the South African Eye Witness News, or EWN.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have been agitating against Williams since he concluded a promotional deal with the major national retailer Woolworths over its trade ties with Israel. Woolworths denies sourcing produce from the West Bank or other disputed territories. The firm is not related to the U.S. chain F.W. Woolworth Company.
Concert organizers had filed a lawsuit against the local BDS branch to limit the number of protesters, but withdrew the legal action days before the performance.
Members of the African National Congress, which in recent weeks has threatened Jewish students who visit Israel and has called for a ban on dual citizenship to prevent its citizens from serving in the Israeli military, also joined the protest, according to EWN.
Williams is scheduled to perform in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Earlier this year, Pharrell became Woolworths’ new style director “in a ground-breaking collaboration across a series of sustainability-focused projects”, the upmarket retailer said.
Proud to collab with retailer @Woolworths_SA. Are you with us, South Africa? See you in September! #PharrellWithWoolies
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) April 9, 2015
The BDS movement accuses Woolworths of importing Israeli agricultural produce from the West Bank, which the company denies.
It says less than 0.1 percent of its food products are sourced from Israel, and the imports comply fully with South African government guidelines.
Pharrell shot to stardom in 2014 with his global hit “Happy,” which sparked a wave of cover videos on the Internet including a number of Israeli versions.
The Times of Israel Community.