Justin Bieber’s Israel Trip Is No Vacation
4-13-11 Tel Aviv – When international pop stars like Justin Bieber make concert appearances in Israel, the Jewish state usually relishes the moment as a respite from their regional and political isolation.
But after plans were bungled for the teen idol to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and local paparazzi piqued Bieber’s anger, the visit before a Thursday concert has become a public relations and diplomatic debacle that many would like to forget.
Israeli press reports said that the prime minister canceled plans for a meeting Wednesday after Bieber demurred at plans to arrange a meeting with children from southern Israel, an area of the country that comes under frequent bombardment from Gaza militants.
Israel Army Radio’s news website dubbed the incident “Bibi versus Bieber: The war of accounts’” between Netanyahu – known in Israel as “Bibi”’ – and the staff of Bieber.
An Israeli government official said that Netanyahu was approached to meet Bieber and hoped to include the children but, “in the end, unfortunately this was not possible.” The official would not say whether a member of Bieber’s entourage or a third party made the suggestion.
Bieber’s Israeli concert promoter, Gadi Yaron, told Israel Army Radio that he was unaware of any plans for a Netanyahu-Bieber summit and that he would have rejected the suggestion of a meeting with the children.
“There is heavy pressure on artists not to come to Israel,’” he said, alluding to recent efforts of pro-Palestinian activists to convince music artists to boycott the Jewish state, “We are working very hard so they will visit Israel, get to know it, and won’t view it as a political place.’’
The teen star has been frustrated by Israel’s notoriously aggressive paparazzi while walking around and at visits to holy sites.
“Bieber furious,’’ read the front page headline in the daily Maariv newspaper.
Video footage on the Ynet.com website showed an enraged cameraman cursing at Bieber and then trying to chase him down after a near-collision as the pop singer tried to make a getaway on a motor scooter.
“Been super frustrated and just needed some time to vent and chill,’’ Bieber tweeted on Tuesday. “I want to see this country and all the places ive dreamed of and whether its the paps or being pulled into politics its been frustrating.’’
Bieber also tweeted that he planned to “take a little break from twitter and enjoy this time with my family” until his concert appearance.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/13/how-justin-biebers-visit-to-is...
Pop heartthrob Justin Bieber is set to perform in Israel after a three-day visit tarnished by frustration at the paparazzi and being, in his words, "pulled into politics".
On Monday, Bieber told Twitter fans he was "looking forward to this week".
By Tuesday he was telling photographers they "should be ashamed" and he would suspend tweeting after an apparent row with the prime minister's office.
He will give an outdoor concert in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening.
The 17-year-old Canadian singer had included a stop in Israel as part of a worldwide tour and had planned to spend the week sightseeing.
But besieged by adoring young fans and hounded by the country's notoriously aggressive press pack, Bieber complained in tweets of being "superfrustrated" and retreated to his hotel, expressing his anger in a tweet: "Staying in the hotel the rest of the week u happy?"
'PR effect'
But the visit encountered more controversy when a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - nicknamed "Bibi" - and the young star apparently fell through after Bieber refused a request from the PM to invite Israeli children affected by Palestinian rocket fire in Israel's south.
"We received a request from Bieber to meet with the prime minister. Netanyahu asked to have children from the south attend the meeting in order to encourage them and create a PR effect. The prime minister does not see this as a political issue," Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement, according to Israel's Ynet News.
The meeting, reportedly scheduled for Wednesday evening, never happened.
In reported comments, sources in the singer's production team denied he had ever asked to meet the prime minister, saying the request had come from Mr Netanyahu - and the singer's manager Scooter Braun even publicly insisted no meeting had ever been planned.
But Bieber alluded to some kind of diplomatic difficulty in a tweet, saying: "I want to see this country and all the places ive dreamed of and whether its the paps or being pulled into politics its frustrating".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13079833
Justin Bieber's Israel Trip Gets The Taiwanese Animation Treatment
Submitted by andie531 on Tue, 2011-04-26 17:53
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beibert's number one song is called "Baby" ...
Number one bloodthirsty murderous thug of israhell is known known as "Bibi" .....
Add all together now.