Israelis likely appreciated pop icon Justin Timberlake’s visit to the Western Wall prior to his show in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Arabs? Not so much.
In fact, a photo that Timberlake posted to Instagram of himself at the Kotel ignited backlash from pro-Palestinian Arab activists, according to the New York Daily News.
“The Holy Land… What an experience. I will never forget this day,” wrote Timberlake when he posted the picture, which included the hashtag #israel.
The photo notched over 240,000 likes, but not all of his followers were in sync with the message, the Daily News reported.
“Israel is defiantly not holy land. they kill palestians [sic] every single day for nothing!,” wrote one commenter.
“Correction : you are in Palestine not israel #disapointed,” wrote another follower.
A round of pro-Israel defenders followed the haters, with one writing: “All that the people in israel [sic] want its live in peace .not war. I can tell u that israel people dont [sic] bomb buses . And not kill little children.”
Singers, musicians and actors who visit Israel or express their support for it are often targeted by pro-Arab activists who call on them to boycott the Jewish state.
While some have caved in to the boycott calls, quite a few have rejected them and went ahead with their visits to Israel despite the backlash.
Last year, popular rhythm and blues artist Alicia Keys refused to cave in to pressure by anti-Israel activists and gave a sold out concert in Tel Aviv.
Keys announced that she had decided to go ahead with her concert in Tel Aviv despite calls from a number of anti-Israel activists to boycott the Jewish state.
The pop duo Pet Shop Boys also rejected calls from pro-Arab activists to cancel a Tel Aviv concert. The concert went ahead as scheduled on June 23 of last year.
Actress Scarlett Johansson recently refused to back down from an advertising campaign for SodaStream, an Israeli company with a factory in Ma’ale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb located over the 1949 armistice lines and which employs Palestinian Arabs.
