Arab world freaks as photo of Tunisian singer with Israeli officer spreads

A Tunisian singer has been receiving withering insults after a photo of him with an IDF officer from the COGAT unit has spread through social media.

Saber al-Rebai, a famous Tunisian singer, posed for this photo after he crossed over the Allenby Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank to perform in a concert in Rawabi. The IDF's COGAT unit coordinates such crossings.

Rebai was forced to go on TV to explain what happened and to insist that he is against normalization with Israel, and in fact he supports the Palestinians wholeheartedly.

He said on his Facebook page that as he crossed over from Jordan, a person in a uniform he didn't recognize introduced himself in Arabic as "Hadi" and said he was responsible for keeping him away from Israelis. 

Yes, Rebai  is really claiming that. 

He then released a flurry of photos and videos showing him with Mahmoud Abbas and wearing a keffiyeh during the concert to show how much he loved Palestinians.

He concluded his Facebook message by saying that "to visit the prisoner doesn't mean normalization with the jailer."

It is interesting to contrast the unrelenting hostility that the Arab world has to the very idea of appearing friendly with any Israeli to the COGAT logo itself:

In the zero-sum mentality of the Arabs, if Israel wants to be friendly than friendship itself becomes a source of intense shame. 

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