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Israeli Artists Denied US Visas Allegedly Due to Song Lyrics Condemning Hamas Leaders and Supporters
Israeli rap duo Ness Ve Stilla. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Four Israeli artists were refused visas to perform in the United States over the weekend allegedly because of controversy surrounding a song by one of the scheduled acts, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported.
Rap duo Ness Ve Stilla, Lior Narkis, and Chaim Osadon, star of the kid’s show “The Crazy World of Dod Chaim,” were scheduled to perform on Sunday at an Israel solidarity concert in Florida sponsored by the Consulate-General of Israel in Miami.
Ness Ve Stilla, whose real names are Nessya Levi and Dor Soroker, told Israel’s Channel 12 that officials in the US gave them the impression that all four artists were denied visas because of the duo’s song “Harbu Darbu,” which they released last year following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. All four artists submitted one joint visa application and were therefore rejected jointly, the Israeli publication Mako reported.
In “Harbu Darbu,” Ness and Stilla call for revenge against Hamas and Hezbollah — both Iran-backed terrorist groups — and threaten model Bella Hadid, singer Dua Lipa, and former Playboy model Mia Khalifa, all of whom have condemned Israel. The rappers name Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and top Hamas officials Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, saying “every dog’s day will come.”
“Everyone who planned, everyone who supported, everyone who carried out, everyone who murdered, every bad person gets his punishment in the end,” they rap in the song. Ness and Stilla also describe pro-Palestinian supporters in the song as the “Children of Amalek,” which is a reference to the ancient tribe that tried to destroy the Israelites. Ness raps: “Left, right, left, impressive how the whole country put on uniforms from the Galilee to Eilat … We brought the whole army on you and I swear there will be no forgiveness.”
“One, two, shoot,” Levi sings. “Get your asses ready, ’cause it’s the air force, feel the vibration all the way to Tel Aviv; all the girls stare at the soldiers, and that guy on the news suddenly seems handsome to me … For mom and dad, for all my friends in the front line; one for grandpa and grandma; we write their names on the shells.”
Narkis confirmed in an Instagram post on Friday that he was denied a visa to perform in Florida. He wrote that “even though I’m already here [in the United States], I am being prevented from holding the performances that were planned due to bureaucratic reasons.”
“We were promised that we will receive an artist visa that we can perform legally,” he added. “Until that moment the requested approval was not received. Unfortunately we are forced to postpone all the shows in the USA.”
Narkis eventually was able to secure permission to perform in Miami on Sunday and took to the stage at Miramar Regional Park. He also announced on Instagram that he was able to organize two concerts in Los Angeles.
The post Israeli Artists Denied US Visas Allegedly Due to Song Lyrics Condemning Hamas Leaders and Supporters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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