By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News -
Canadian performer Justin Bieber came under fire Wednesday for a performance he gave in Finland where he marched across the stage with his right arm raised in a Nazi salute.
The international singing sensation can be seen in uploaded video clips high-stepping back and forth in a seeming prelude to a song, with the microphone held in his right hand that is stiffly raised forward in the way Nazis would salute their leader while saying “Sieg Heil.” He did not march in the goose-step fashion as the Nazis did.
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, head of the Conference of European Rabbis, reacted angrily to the news.
“The famous singer slapped millions of Jews around the world in the face when he chose to highlight the ‘Sieg Heil’ gesture, which symbolizes identification with the values of the Nazi Party and its leader, the enemy of the Jewish people, Adolf Hitler,” he said.
“It’s unthinkable that a singer who has tens of millions of fans and followers around the world allows himself to make such a gesture on European ground that is soaked with the blood of millions of Jews and other minorities that were cruelly murdered by the Nazi oppressor.”
He demanded an explanation from Bieber, because “using this movement on such a large platform is a symbol of victory for anti-Semites and provides an incentive for future assailants.”
Goldschmidt also immediately called for the cancellation of Bieber’s upcoming concert in Israel. The popular celebrity is scheduled to perform at Tel Aviv’s huge HaYarkon Park on October 13 as part of his Justice World Tour, named for his 2021 “Justice” album.
However, the company promoting Bieber’s show in Israel said the steps had nothing to do with Nazis, Times of Israel reported.
“These are dance moves…Dance moves are meant to entertain. Not everything has to do with the Jewish people, with all the love we have for ourselves,” a representative of Nidar Oz Communications said.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Bieber shared his manager’s Instagram post commemorating the murdered 6,000,000 Jews.
The last time the international star sang in Israel was 2017. The day before his performance before 20,000 fans, Bieber made a statement against racism during a concert in Norway.
“We know that racism is evil. It’s not right,” he told his audience.
Bieber is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 150 million records worldwide. The 28-year-old singer has won two prestigious Grammy statuettes and numerous other music awards since beginning his career at the age of 15, when he became an instant teen idol.
Image: Lou Stejskal, CC BY 2.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons
