American rap singer Missy Elliott arrived in Israel on Wednesday ahead of her Thursday concert at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds.
Elliott reportedly arrived a day early to travel in the country, including a visit to the Western Wall where she left a note, and trip to Masada with her entourage.
The Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East NGO had urged
Elliott to cancel the concert, and posted a petition on its Web site
Tuesday asking users to do the same.
“Santana, Elvis Costello,
The Pixies and other prominent performers have recently canceled
concerts in Israel... in solidarity with the Palestinian call for
boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel in 2005,” read the
statement.
“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,” it read.
The website
also attached a form which users could send by e-mail to Elliott’s
manager.
Elliot, who is in the midst of a European tour,
evidently ignored the appeal and will be perfoming on Thursday, with
warm up provided by local hip hop favorites Hadag Nahash.
Together
with producer Timbaland, ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliot proved to be an authentic
hit maker even before her 1997 debut Supa Dupa Fly was released to mass
acclaim, thanks to songs written for Aaliyah and Mariah Carey.
Breaking
barriers for women in rap, the one-woman hip-hop machine maintained a
string of hit albums and singles throughout the next decade, including
collaborations with Pink, Busta Rhymes and Lil Kim.
Her albums
include Da Real World (1999), Miss E...So Addictive (2001), Under
Construction (2002), This Is Not A Test (2003) and The Cookbook (2005).
David
Brinn contributed to this report