A grand example of how the online world and social media can cause changes in the real world and bring an international focus to an issue; even if it is little Cyprus trying to convince a huge international start like Jennifer Lopez to go against a signed 3 million contract for a concert in the illegally Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.
On June 30th the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) started with an online plea towards Jennifer Lopez not to go through with a concert agreement celebrating the inauguration of a new luxury hotel built on the illegally Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus, indirectly commemorating the 36th anniversary of the 1st Turkish invasion to the island, intending to also celebrate her birthday there with her whole family which would violate a UN embargo.
A facebook fan page was then created titled AGAINST JENNIFER LOPEZ PERFORMING IN OCCUPIED CYPRUS gathering close to 20,000 fans (today: 23,500 fans) and consequently bringing the attention of international mainstream media to the matter, such as The Daily Telegraph, ABC, Digital Spy, Toronto Sun, OneIndia, Yahoo! News, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Improper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the AFP, TF1, Sydney Morning Herald, tons of blogs and celebrity websites etc, etc… The fan page admins also motioned fans to write directly to JLo’s agent via email, imploring her to cancel the concert, aside from also signing an online petition against the concert taking place.
The result was Jennifer Lopez and her team announcing on July 8th, approximately 1 week after this online grassroots campaign started, the decision not to go forward with the concert, with the following statement released on her official website:
“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.”
This is the first successful social media campaign taking place in Cyprus. Should this incident had happened BF (before the facebook era), without a virtual, globally accessible place allowing people to voice their disagreement of what such an action symbolizes, it would have gone unnoticed by the global community. This just goes to show what a huge impact social media can have in our day and age.
Note: Sadly, this incident did spark an unnecessary friction among Greek and Turkish-Cypriots, resurfacing the propaganda taught in schools since 1963, forgetting in the process how people from both sides were victimized by Turkey’s actions and having people forget that this issue here is on a political and NOT a personal level and should not had been taken as such.
Additional Resources:
- More background information on the protest can be found here – on the Hellenic Vanguard blog.
- Additional news coverage on the decision to cancel the concert can also be viewed here, here, here and here.
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