Shakira Makes a Star Turn at an Israeli Conference

[oberliner]

JERUSALEM — When Israel’s octogenarian president, Shimon Peres, opened his Israeli Presidential Conference here on Tuesday, he chose an unlikely partner to stand by his side: Shakira, the Colombian pop star who is partly of Lebanese descent, performed last month in Beirut and was once (wrongly) accused in an Internet rumor of saying she would rather have pigs listen to her music than Israelis.

For Shakira, too, Jerusalem was probably not an obvious choice. By Tuesday, there were almost 2000 “likes” on a Facebook page urging her to stay away from Israel and comply with a pro-Palestinian cultural boycott.

But Shakira, a Unicef ambassador, philanthropist and founder of the Barefoot Foundation, which promotes the right to a quality education for children worldwide, said she never had any doubts.

“Kids in countries like mine or this one, in conflict, need a voice,” Shakira said in an interview. “They need to be put at the top of political agendas, so I knew I had to be here.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/middleeast/22shakira.html