Colombian pop start Shakira is visiting Israel and, unlike most stars, she is focusing on good will for children and shunning politics and anti-Israeli boycotts.
She spoke with President Shimon Peres at the opening of the annual Presidential Conference Tuesday. He praised her singing as “a melody without violence” and added, "your priorities are directed to the poor... bringing them a message of a better world. Your rhythms are an inspiration."
Shakira, who is of Lebanese descent, said she came to Israel to further her Barefoot Foundation charity for children. She met Israeli and Palestinian Authority children, saying that “education is the best solution for global stability and peace.”
A young Israeli girl gave her a traditional Yemenite necklace. Shakira visited two schools in Jerusalem, despite Facebook messages urging her to boycott the Israeli capital, and she did not refer to the Arab claims over the city.
Shakira did not sing during her one-day visit but took time to express her disgust at false allegations that she once said she would prefer that pigs listen to her music instead of Israelis. “It made me really, really sad to hear that someone could say that about me,” she commented Tuesday.
Her song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" was the official anthem of the FIFA World Cup in 2010.