No Peace Concerts in Middle East

Simultaneous peace concerts in Tel Aviv and the West Bank town of Jericho were called off after threats were made to Palestinians supporting the event, which was free of charge to those who would sign a petition for peace.

The New York-based One Voice organization planned the shows to support their campaign to collect a million signatures from Israelis and Palestinians in hopes of helping achieve a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict by October 2008. Bryan Adams led the Jericho concert’s bill.

Because of security concerns, including threats to blow up the West Bank office of One Voice, the show in Jericho was called off the second week of October. The Tel Aviv concert was canceled in solidarity October 14th.

"Our mission is not to entertain … It is to mobilize moderate voices," said One Voice founder Daniel Lubetzky. "If we have to postpone, we have to postpone."

Around 600,000 Palestinians and Israelis had signed on to support One Voice’s plan for peace through negotiations. Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Rhea Perlman, Danny DeVito and Jason Alexander had also shown their support.

Many Palestinians had criticized One Voice for not having a strong enough stance in defending Palestinian demands, such as the right of return for refugees to the lands they left or were forced to flee following the Israeli-Arab war in 1948. Some leading Palestinians who initially supported the event chose to instead keep their distance from the organization.