Missy lands in Israel despite opposition

Petition urges Elliot to cancel; singer to visit Kotel, hike Masada.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Missy Elliot 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Missy Elliot 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
US rap singer Missy Elliott arrived in Israel Wednesday ahead of her July 15 concert despite calls for her to cancel, because of the Israeli blockade over Gaza.
The Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) had urged Elliott to cancel the concert, and posted a petition on its website Tuesday asking users to do the same.
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"Santana, Elvis Costello, The Pixies and other prominent performers have recently canceled concerts in Israel," read the website, "in solidarity with the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel in 2005.
"As a member of a visible minority, and someone who has long contributed to various social causes, Ms. Elliott may have a sensitivity to the plight of the oppressed." The website provided a form by which users could send an email to Elliott's manager.
The call for Elliott to boycott Israel followed a string of celebrities who have backed out of attending events in Israel after the international outcry over Israel’s attack on a Turkish-led
flotilla that attempted to break the Gaza blockade on May 31.
Meg Ryan recently canceled an appearance at this year’s annual Jerusalem Film Festival and US alternative rock bank the 'Pixies' canceled their June 9 Tel Aviv show, a decision which followed earlier cancellations by the 'Klaxons' and 'Gorillaz.'
Only two weeks after British rock icon Elvis Costello told The Jerusalem Post that the only answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “dialogue and reconciliation,” he decided to take himself out of the equation by canceling his two shows scheduled for June 30 and July 1 at the Caesaerea Amphitheater.
Costello posted an announcement on his Web site over the weekend explaining his decision to join the boycott of Israel. “There are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent,” he wrote.
Saying
he could not imagine receiving another invitation to perform in Israel, Costello wrote that since the conflict was “actually too grave and complex to be addressed in a concert, then it is also quite impossible to simply look the other way… sometimes a silence in music is better than adding to the static.”Elliott was reported to have arrived on July 14, a day early, to do some touring in Israel, including leaving a note at the Western Wall, and hiking Masada, and visiting the Dead Sea with her entourage.
David Brinn and Ruth Eglash contributed to this report