One of the demonstrators grabbed Nini's microphone as another tried to unfurl a banner calling for a ban of Israeli performers. "This is not a terrorist attack," one of the men declared. "We are here to make a political point. Noa should not be singing."
"I saw how these people waving signs supportive of the Palestinians rushed the stage at Ahinoam," Nini's manager Ofer Passenson said. "The audience just froze. Ahinoam was stricken with panic. I leaped onto the stage and jumped onto one of the attackers and held him tightly so that he wouldn't hurt Ahinoam, who broke out in tears."
Rachel Farhi, who was sitting near the stage, said the men were dressed in black and looked like "young, left-wing student types," the Jerusalem Post reported. She said that other demonstrators had been outside the hall handing out pamphlets calling for a boycott of Israeli performers.
The four demonstrators were escorted out of the hall and handed over to police. One of them said, "This was not a demonstration against Ahinoam Nini. It was against the State of Israel."
Nini was clearly distraught by the incident and asked not to continue her performance. But the audience, which included many people of Greek descent attending the MedFest 2002 festival of Mediterranean music, started to call out, "Noa, Noa." Eventually the singer returned to the stage and performed four additional songs.
Amanda Jones, spokeswomen for the Barbican Center, said that pro-Palestinian groups had pressured her to cancel Nini's performance. "We didn't give in to the pressure, because this is not a political festival, but we added additional ushers and notified the police."
Radiodervish, a musical group featuring Palestinian singer Nabil Salameh, had been invited to appear with Nini as a sign of cultural cooperation, but decided not to perform.
Nini, 31, an Israeli from a Yemenite background who grew up in the United States and considers English her native language, has a unique musical style that synthesizes Middle East ethnic melodies with jazz and rock. She has attracted controversy through her outspoken, left-leaning politics. In 1994, in possibly her most memorable and controversial performance, she sang a rendition of "Ave Maria" at the Vatican in front of 100,000 people including Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.
