American singer and actress Demi Lovato apologises for her ‘spiritual journey’ to Israel, after she was criticized for taking a political stance amid the political tension and conflict between Israel and the Palestine.
Demi Lovato who only yesterday shared an emotional note about her visit to Israel, including pictures of her being baptized in the River Jordan, visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem and touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum, said she is apologizing if she had offended anyone for accepting and taking up the invitation to visit Israel.
Although she has since disabled her comment section on her Instagram, after the huge backlash from pro-Palestinian activists online who make up part of her over 74million followers on Instagram, she said she knew nothing about the whole political situation in the region.
Taking to her page to apologized she said:
“I’m extremely frustrated. I accepted a free trip to Israel in exchange for a few posts. No one told me there would be anything wrong with going or that I could possibly be offending anyone. With that being said, I’m sorry if I’ve hurt or offended anyone,”
“Sometimes people present you with opportunities and no one tells you the potential backlash you could face in return. This was meant to be a spiritual experience for me, NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT and now I realize it hurts people and for that I’m sorry,” she added.
It wasn’t immediately clear who had funded her trip.
Demi Lovato who had said on Wednesday that she had Jewish ancestors, had said:
“There is something absolutely magical about Israel. I’ve never felt such a sense of spirituality or connection to God,” she tweeted.
“This trip has been so important for my well-being, my heart, and my soul. I’m grateful for the memories made and the opportunity to be able to fill the God-sized hole in my heart. Thank you for having me, Israel.”
She wrote that her heart was “absolutely broken in Yad Vashem,” and praised the Shalva National Center, a Jerusalem organization providing care to people with disabilities.