Israeli President Rivlin responded this morning to the controversy surrounding the performance of Tamer Nafar yesterday in Haifa in an interview with Channel 2.
“Arab Israelis could be the bridge,” Rivlin stated in an Interview with Channel 2, “I saw 4,000 people go to see a performer and they didn’t necessarily agree with everything he said but they continued to watch him even if some of the time they had to bite their tongues.”
Rivlin also added that, “they were supporting his freedom to communicate a message that wasn’t their own through the context of our societal cultural framework. We should see that as a huge accomplishment.”
“Everyone needs to understand that we were meant to live together in this country, we have to get to know one another, even if we don’t agree we have to enable each side to express itself,” Rivlin stated.
In conclusion Rivlin said, “We are living in a multicultural society. Our role as leaders is to enable grappling with this situation, even when multiculturalism is difficult. Multiculturalism is a bed of beautiful roses that has some thorns so we just have to be careful not to get pricked or to prick one another.”
Rivlin was responding to yesterday's performance by controversial Arab-Israeli rapper Tamer Nafar who in the past called IDF soldiers terrorists and said he “understood” the motivations of suicide bombers.
Nafar, a former protégé of the Jewish rapper Kobi Shimoni – better known by his stage name “Subliminal” – parted ways with Shimoni after the outbreak of the Second Intifada following comments by Nafar suggesting that he “understood the rage that” motivates suicide bombers.