Thousands of members on a Facebook page have convinced Jennifer Lopez to cancel a performance and issue a political statement.
The Puerto Rican singer and actress was to perform at the occupied territories of Cyprus, at the inauguration of a grand hotel, where she’d also celebrate her 41st birthday.
Unfortunately, J’Lo did not seem to realize that by inviting her fans to “Northern Cyprus” for a fiesta of singing, she was giving justice to a phantom country, recognized only by Turkey.
Cyprus, divided after the July 1974 military invasion by Turkey has seen more than 200,000 refugees wander to the south part and onto Greece, never able to see their homeland again.
Famagusta, a former world-class beach resort in occupied Cyprus is frozen in time, left as it was in 1974
Varosia, on the world-famous Famagusta beach is a ghost city, left as it was 36 years ago and trapped in barbed wire and mines. With 41% of the Cypriot land occupied by Turkey, the churches, monasteries and archaeological temples have been demolished by the settlers that moved in from Anatolia.
The uproar motivated thousands of Greeks leading them to a quickly organized online protest against Jennifer Lopez; with them sided other nations such as Armenia, Russia and Serbia; even Israel, that has seen relations with Turkey reach a breaking point recently.
A few hours ago, Jennifer Lopez regained her respect and appreciation of thousands of Greek fans, after canceling her concert in the occupied Cyprus and issuing the following statement:
Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse. After a full review of the relevant circumstances in Cyprus, it was the decision of her advisors to withdraw from the appearance. This was a team decision that reflects our sensitivity to the political realities of the region.
Soon after, the news spread out across the various social media sites, echoed on Facebook and Twitter and along came the voiced appreciation of “J’Lo from the block”. If only she would plan a concert in Greece, the bliss would be complete.
Thanks for the info…learn something new everyday at DG.
My geo-political horizon has widen