A Kuwaiti singer, Ima Shaha, sang the Hebrew song “Hava Nagila” at a recent concert – much to the consternation, and condemnation, of many in the country. The 28 year old singer said that she wasn't fully aware of the meaning of the words, but rejected charges that the song contained an “insult” to Arabs, and that it was simply a song that called for peace and co-existence.
Kuwaiti government officials and Muslim leaders have rejected her position, saying that she was introducing “Zionist values” in the country, and that her use of Hebrew in a Muslim country was in itself an insult to Islam.