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Friday June 27, 1997

Singer slams threats of right-winger

NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police plan to question an extreme right-wing activist on suspicion of threatening Irish pop star Sinead O'Connor.

O'Connor canceled her scheduled appearance at a concert Saturday night in Jerusalem's Sultan's Pool after receiving death threats. The concert, billed as being for "Two Capitals, Two States," was sponsored by Israeli and Palestinian women's groups.

No one claimed responsibility for the threats. However, ultra-nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir said in an Israel Radio interview that he "understood" those who sent the threats.

While not claiming responsibility for the threats, Ben-Gvir said that he and his supporters had succeeded in getting the concert called off.

He referred to O'Connor as a "singer who preaches and calls for the division of Jerusalem and who spreads gentile culture," adding that she "has no place in Israel."

Ben-Gvir is affiliated with an offshoot of the outlawed Kach movement, which is militantly anti-Arab.

After the interview, O'Connor sent Ben-Gvir an open letter.

"God does not reward those who bring terror to the children of the world," she wrote. "So you have succeeded in nothing but your soul's failure."

Added O'Connor: "As I child I remember watching television in Ireland on Christmas Eve. I saw Israeli and Palestinian men beating each other in the streets of the very birthplace of their faiths. I felt saddened and frightened. I asked God then `How can there be peace anywhere on earth if there is not peace in Jerusalem?' I ask you that question now Mr. Ben Gvir."

O'Connor, who was raised Catholic, is now a Buddhist and critic of the Vatican. She gained notoriety when she ripped a photo of Pope John Paul II on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" at the height of her popularity, says she is also now aligned with the Jamaican Rastafarian movement.

Recent albums have carried artwork and a logo that include a large Star of David between her first and last names. She once told an Irish journalist that one reason she liked Bob Dylan was that he was a Jew.

O'Connor performed in Israel in 1995 in Jerusalem and Caesaria to glowing reviews in a stage show that included a Star of David backdrop.

But the trip was overshadowed by a clash between her and local paparazzi, who followed her outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.

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