Your Email:

Friend's Email:

Note: (optional)

Subject:

Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/6078/full/6078/singer-slams-threats-of-right-winger/ <br /><br /> <b>Singer slams threats of right-winger</b> <br /> Friday, June 27, 1997 | by <p>NAOMI SEGAL </p> <br /><br /><p>JERUSALEM—Israeli police plan to question an extreme right-wing activist on suspicion of threatening Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor.<br /><br /> O'Connor canceled her scheduled appearance at a concert Saturday night in Jerusalem's Sultan's Pool after receiving death threats. The concert, billed as being for "Two Capitals, Two States," was sponsored by Israeli and Palestinian women's groups.<br /><br /> No one claimed responsibility for the threats. However, ultra-nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir said in an Israel Radio interview that he "understood" those who sent the threats.<br /><br /> While not claiming responsibility for the threats, Ben-Gvir said that he and his supporters had succeeded in getting the concert called off.<br /><br /> He referred to O'Connor as a "singer who preaches and calls for the division of Jerusalem and who spreads gentile culture," adding that she "has no place in Israel."<br /><br /> Ben-Gvir is affiliated with an offshoot of the outlawed Kach movement, which is militantly anti-Arab.<br /><br /> After the interview, O'Connor sent Ben-Gvir an open letter.<br /><br /> "God does not reward those who bring terror to the children of the world," she wrote. "So you have succeeded in nothing but your soul's failure."<br /><br /> Added O'Connor: "As I child I remember watching television in Ireland on Christmas Eve. I saw Israeli and Palestinian men beating each other in the streets of the very birthplace of their faiths. I felt saddened and frightened. I asked God then `How can there be peace anywhere on earth if there is not peace in Jerusalem?' I ask you that question now Mr. Ben Gvir."<br /><br /> O'Connor, who was raised Catholic, is now a Buddhist and critic of the Vatican. She gained notoriety when she ripped a photo of Pope John Paul II on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" at the height of her popularity, says she is also now aligned with the Jamaican Rastafarian movement.<br /><br /> Recent albums have carried artwork and a logo that include a large Star of David between her first and last names. She once told an Irish journalist that one reason she liked Bob Dylan was that he was a Jew.<br /><br /> O'Connor performed in Israel in 1995 in Jerusalem and Caesaria to glowing reviews in a stage show that included a Star of David backdrop.<br /><br /> But the trip was overshadowed by a clash between her and local paparazzi, who followed her outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.</p> <p> </p>

Please enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below: