Never underestimate what can happen when you speak out against Israel haters.

That’s the lesson we learned this week from Shelly Dvir, a 14-year old heavy metal fan from Ashkelon, who stopped a band she loved from cancelling an upcoming show in Israel with…a heartfelt comment on Facebook.

According to Ynet, the BDS movement nearly convinced the Irish band Cruachan to cancel its show next week in Tel Aviv. However, the band decided to keep the date as scheduled because of Dvir’s letter.

“We have had a few comments and emails telling us to boycott Israel,” said vocalist and guitarist Keith Fay. “We are not a band with a political agenda. We are musicians. When the show was announced, I had a message from a 14-year-old fan telling us how happy she was that she will see us in her home town. That’s why we tour – for our fans.”

Dvir told the paper that she was moved to act after reading comments on the band’s Facebook page:

“One of the people there made an ignorant comment against Israel. He started saying things like ‘murder and abuse of children are legal there, it’s part of their religion.’ “I was quite irritated by that. So I replied that murder and abuse are not legal here just like in any other country, and that Israel is a country which fights terror and tries to avoid killing or hurting innocent people as much as possible, unlike our enemies who fire rockets at our homes.” To the band members, who she has been following for two years now, she wrote: “I am very excited about your concert in Israel. People love you in Israel.”

The BDS movement has a long track record of harassing artists and musicians that plan to appear in Israel. But despite the bullying, artists continue to schedule dates in the Jewish state. In addition to Cruachan, artists as diverse as Lady Gaga, Kiss, and the Beach Boys have announced dates to appear.

And thanks to Dvir, we can also see that there is an effective way to counter bullying – by showing appreciation and respect.

Image: CC BY-NC-SA HonestReporting, flickr/Mo

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