Lebanese singer met with anger for posing with Israeli blogger
Lebanese pop star Nancy Ajram meeting and posing with an Israeli travel blogger sparked a backlash from a furious social media army, Middle East Monitor reported.
As well as Israel’s deadly war on Gaza, its forces are clashing with Iran-backed militants Hezbollah at the Lebanon Israel border. Around 200 have been killed in the skirmishes since the start of October, 170 of whom were Hezbollah fighters.
The outrage began as pictures and videos circulated of Ajram, 40, and blogger Itzik Balas, in Cyprus, shaking hands online.
Balas had posted the pictures to his 226,000 Instagram followers on February 18 with the caption, “I was excited to meet the global mega star of the Arab world, The Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram.”
The picture is still on Balas’ account as of February 22.
This stoked outrage as dozens of social media users, including some apparent fans, accused the Lebanese artist of “fraternizing with Israel” at a time when boycotts against the state are on the rise for its war crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip.
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The scrutiny was also met with people defending her online saying that “as a celebrity she does not have time to background check every ‘fan’ that she encounters”.
It is not the first time the celebrity has been met with angry remarks online for such a meeting. Last year she took a picture with an Israeli fan, also in Cyprus.
She brushed off the criticism by saying, “My belonging to this land (Lebanon) and its roots transcends trivialities and remains above any consideration. I am Lebanese and Arab until the last breath,”
Although Lebanon has numerous strict anti-Israel normalisation laws, it does not extend to meeting ordinary Israeli citizens (unintentionally in the case of Ajram).
The aims of the laws are primarily to ensure that no relations can be had with Israeli officials, Israeli businesses, and the Israeli state.
Ajram is widely considered to be the top music star in the Arab world and has a huge online presence, 40 million followers on Instagram and 15.4 million on X (formerly Twitter).
The superstar did not comment on the recent deluge of angry reactions.
Middle East Monitor
