Israel turns away former pop musician

Israel turns away former pop musician
REUTERS

JERUSALEM, JULY 13: Israel has denied entry to former British pop musician Yousef al-Islam because he supports the militant Palestinian organisation Hamas, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

Al-Islam, who was known as Cat Stevens before converting toIslam in 1977, landed in Israel on a flight from Germany early on Wednesday. He was held at the airport for several hours and sent back to Germany, government spokesman Moshe Fogel said.

Al-Islam, who now sings only for his mosque, had"transferred funds" to Hamas in the past, the spokesman told Reuters.

"There was a problem with allowing him into the countrybecause he is a Hamas supporter," he said.

"He didn'T seem like he was coming here for summer tourism.Any country has the right to prevent...terror within its own borders."

As Cat Stevens, Al-Islam became famous in the 1970s forseveral recordings, including "Peacetrain" and "Moonshadow".

Fogel said his trip was intended to show support for thePalestinian cause while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat were trying to hammer out a final peace deal at the U.S. Presidential retreat at Camp David.

"He knew before he got on the plane that he didn'T havepermission to come into the country," Fogel said.

Israel has sought to cut Financial support for Hamas, whichopposes the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and has been held responsible for numerous guerrilla attacks in which scores of Israelis have been killed or wounded.

Al-Islam's Islamic faith was not the issue, and there was nodiscrimination or mistreatment of the musician, Fogel said.

"Israel has had numerous visits by celebrities who haveturned to Islam," he said. "They have been received with open arms and enjoyed their stay."