Official PA daily: Describing Palestinians with Israeli citizenship as “Israeli singers” causes furor
“Arab media sources have, of their own volition, awarded Israeli citizenship to several Palestinian artists, [thereby] stripping them of their national identity. Numerous internet sites rushed to report the details of the news item, which had been translated from the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot and published in a Lebanese magazine.
The news was tantamount to a scandal for MBC, the channel that broadcasts the talent show ‘Arab Idol,’ because [it implies that] the channel will allow Israelis to participate in the show’s next season. The magazine referred to Palestinian artists Manal Musa and Haitham Khalaileh as ‘Israeli artists,’ and published a news item on its website entitled ‘For the first time: Two Israeli competitors participate in Arab Idol.’ However, within a few hours, the item was removed from the magazine’s website.
Social network activists criticized the publication of the item by the prominent Arab magazine. One responded: ‘Had the magazine taken the trouble to search for Manal Musa and Haitham Khalaileh on Google, they would have found hundreds of patriotic Palestinian songs by both artists, who had Israeli identity cards and passports forced on them because they come from within the Green Line’…
There were reports that the State of Palestine had granted Manal and Haitham Palestinian citizenship to facilitate their passage [from place to place], and apparently, they have moved from within the Green Line to Ramallah…
In the past, Manal Musa had expressed her wish to participate in the program’s second season [which took place] last year, and [recalled] that the director of MBC had been impressed with her voice when she sang for him in Amman… but had said he could not agree to her participation because she held an Israeli passport, even though he was very impressed by her voice. Manal said: ‘I explained to him that we are Palestinians, proud of our identity, and that we can’t be excluded. I think that if they really wanted to, they could have found a solution.’”
The news was tantamount to a scandal for MBC, the channel that broadcasts the talent show ‘Arab Idol,’ because [it implies that] the channel will allow Israelis to participate in the show’s next season. The magazine referred to Palestinian artists Manal Musa and Haitham Khalaileh as ‘Israeli artists,’ and published a news item on its website entitled ‘For the first time: Two Israeli competitors participate in Arab Idol.’ However, within a few hours, the item was removed from the magazine’s website.
Social network activists criticized the publication of the item by the prominent Arab magazine. One responded: ‘Had the magazine taken the trouble to search for Manal Musa and Haitham Khalaileh on Google, they would have found hundreds of patriotic Palestinian songs by both artists, who had Israeli identity cards and passports forced on them because they come from within the Green Line’…
There were reports that the State of Palestine had granted Manal and Haitham Palestinian citizenship to facilitate their passage [from place to place], and apparently, they have moved from within the Green Line to Ramallah…
In the past, Manal Musa had expressed her wish to participate in the program’s second season [which took place] last year, and [recalled] that the director of MBC had been impressed with her voice when she sang for him in Amman… but had said he could not agree to her participation because she held an Israeli passport, even though he was very impressed by her voice. Manal said: ‘I explained to him that we are Palestinians, proud of our identity, and that we can’t be excluded. I think that if they really wanted to, they could have found a solution.’”