Florida lawmaker wants Lorde concert in Miami canceled

MIAMI - A Florida lawmaker wants Miami to cancel a pop singer's upcoming concert at the American Airlines Arena because of her stance on Israel.

State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, is co-sponsoring a bill in the Florida House that prohibits government entities from conducting business with any organization engaged in a boycott of Israel.

Grammy Award-winning artist Lorde canceled a planned concert in Tel Aviv last December after two activists in her native New Zealand published an open letter to Lorde asking her to reconsider.

Lorde has two concerts scheduled in Miami and Tampa in April, but Fine believes since she joined the boycott of Israel, she therefore shouldn't be allowed to perform in Florida.

A current law passed in 2016 bans any contracts of more than $1 million with companies that protest Israel, but the new legislation would allow for no contracts at all.

Fine sent letters to both the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority and the Tampa Sports Authority last week, demanding that they cancel the concerts.

However, a spokeswoman for the city of Miami said the concert venue is owned by Miami-Dade County and therefore doesn't have the authority to cancel Lorde's show.

"Florida has no tolerance for anti-Semitism and boycotts intended to destroy the state of Israel," Fine told the Tampa Bay Times.

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