Pop star Madonna will cancel a series of concerts in Tel Aviv this year due to death threats from Palestinian terrorists, according to a source that spoke with the UK’s Sun newspaper.
The controversial singer had planned to defy the terrorists, using extra security, but canceled the three September performances after an unnamed Palestinian group gave details about her two children in a blitz of “poison-pen” letters sent to her Los Angeles office.
Madonna “freaked out,” according to the unnamed source, when 7-year old Lourdes and 3-year-old Rocco were mentioned in the “unbelievably scary” notes.
The notes became more frightening, the paper said, as they demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the star’s closest aides.
“It became clear that these people were not messing around – they even knew intimate details like who her personal staff are,” the source told the Sun.
“She thought she was being targeted because of her Jewish Kabbalah religion. But this group were threatening her because she represents many things they hate about the West,” the source added.
The performances were to include a televised concert Sept. 11 to mark the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
The rock star’s aides insisted she cancelled the the Israel leg of Re-Invention tour because she wants to concentrate on Europe. But, according to the Sun, “insiders say nothing except this security alert would have stopped her travelling to Tel Aviv.”
