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Anti-Israel boycotters are pushing Uruguayan singer and actress Natalia Oreiro to cancel her concert in Israel. We must counter these voices of hatred and urge her to keep the date!

Bassem Tamimi, father of Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian recently arrested by Israel for assaulting IDF soldiers and inciting terrorism, is calling on Uruguayan singer and actress Natalia Oreiro to cancel her upcoming concert in Tel Aviv in a show of solidarity with his daughter.

In a letter published on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) website, Tamimi senior argued that the Latin Grammy-nominated singer should cancel the concert and “take a stand for Palestinian children’s rights.”

Performing in Tel Aviv will “cover up Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights and undermine efforts to free Ahed and other imprisoned children in Israeli jails,” he claimed.

Bassem further charged that Israel “systematically uses performances by artists to cover up its decades-old system of military occupation and racial apartheid.”

“Your concert would undermine our efforts to secure freedom for Ahed and over 300 other Palestinian children incarcerated by Israel,” he asserted. “I sincerely hope you will not now lend your voice to the propaganda efforts of Israel’s regime of oppression that incarcerates … girls like my daughter.”

Anti-Israel activists often call Ahed a “girl” and misrepresent her as far younger than her actual age in order to claim she’s just a “child.”

Ahed was arrested in December after she was filmed assaulting IDF soldiers as they operated to quell a violent protest in the village of Nabi Saleh.

She was indicted on two counts of assault and 10 counts of rioting, hindering security forces in the line of duty and incitement to violence. Her mother Nariman and cousin Nur, who participated in the provocation, were also charged with incitement.

Tamimi and her family routinely engage in provocations against the IDF, and Bassem himself has been involved in terrorism against Israel. In 2011, he was convicted and jailed when caught organizing the village children to march towards the neighboring Jewish community of Halamish (Neve Tzuf) and throw rocks.

The Tamimi family are in no way innocent, and Ahed’s arrest has nothing to do with “children’s rights.”

We must counter BDS’ heinous hate-filled campaign and urge Natalia to steer away from animosity and ugliness, which achieve nothing but more hatred and ugliness.

Please send Natalia Oreiro a message thanking her for her scheduled concert in Israel and asking her not to listen to the voices of Israel-haters and anti-Semites.