--- In dana_international_and_ts_by_zana@yahoogroups.com, "zanaloveselfies"
<zanaloveselfies@...> wrote:

--- In rael-science-select@yahoogroups.com, selected by Rael <selected.by.rael@>
wrote:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4434610/Israeli-
Eurovision-singers-condemned-as-traitors.html

Israeli Eurovision singers condemned as 'traitors'

A Jew and an Arab lined up to be Israel's Eurovision Song Contest entry may
have to pull out of the competition after suffering a torrent of abuse and
condemnation.

By Dina Kraft in Tel Aviv
Last Updated: 6:31PM GMT 02 Feb 2009

Israeli-Arab singer Mira Awad and Israeli-Jewish singer Achinoam Nini, who
has performed with Sting, are under pressure from critics ranging from
Right-wing Jews, to Palestinians and even Israeli peace campaigners.

The pair are known for syrupy pop sung in Hebrew and Arabic and have yet to
unveil the song they planned to sing at the Eurovision contest.

But now Miss Awad in particular has drawn the wrath of her fellow
Israeli-Arabs, who make up one in five of Israel's population.

After hundreds of civilians were killed during the assault against Hamas,
Israel's Arabs are angry and Miss Awad is providing a target.

Soon after her nomination as Israel's choice for Eurovision, which happened
during the brief war, television footage showed people in the street urging
her to stand down.

She has been blasted in internet chat rooms by almost every shade of Israeli
society, from Right-wing Jews who do not want her representing the Jewish
state to fellow Arabs who accuse her of betraying her people.

A group of prominent artists even sent her an open letter asking her to
reconsider.

Juliano Mer Khamis, one of the signatories and an actor whose parentage is
mixed Jewish and Arab, said: "We think Mira Awad has been used cynically by
Israeli propaganda. They are going to use her as a fig leaf."

The artists claim that the Israeli authorities want to use Miss Awad's pop
talents to cover up the discrimination that they say the Arab population
suffers.

Miss Awad gave her version of solving the Middle East's political problems
during a television interview last week. "I'm for life," she said. "I want
to live here and I want everyone to live here together. To live, not to die.
I am sure there is a solution if everyone would just be honest."

Her manager said she still hoped to compete at Eurovision, adding that the
two singers were "for dialogue and co-operation."

They have however cancelled a charity event for Gaza at a Tel Aviv
nightclub, after Miss Nini came under fire from Left-wing peace campaigners
when she criticised Hamas.

The debate has exposed the uneasy position of Israel's Arabs, those
Palestinians and their descendants who remained after 1948.

They are Israeli citizens but they are not required to serve in the army.
Some become political radicals and all are viewed with suspicion by many
Israeli Jews.

Eurovision may seem like an unlikely arena for such existential arguments
but it has a large following in the nation. Parties are thrown to watch the
contest on television.

Israel's greatest Eurovision success was "Dana International", a transsexual
performer who won in 1998 and continues to be one of the country's biggest
stars.

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