Nancy Ajram closing the Dbayeh International Festival in 2017 . Photo: Al-Musawwir al-Mustaqil via Wikimedia Commons

Lebanese pop icon Nancy Ajram defended herself on Tuesday against backlash she received for taking photos with Israeli fans during her recent concert in Cyprus.

“I will not give testimonies on my patriotism to anyone!” the multi-platinum singer wrote in an Arabic-language Twitter post. “I will not comment anymore, because my belonging to this land [Lebanon] and its roots transcends trivialities and remains above any consideration. [I am] Lebanese and Arab until the last breath. Thanks for the love and support.”

Social media users accused the pop singer of “normalization” with Israel and “not being careful” after she took photos with Israeli fans at her concert on July 8 in Cyprus, The New Arab first reported. Many others came to Ajram’s defense, saying there is no way for her to know a fan’s nationality before taking a picture with them.

Lebanon and Israel have no diplomatic relations and the former does not recognize Israel as a state.

In her Twitter post on Tuesday, Ajram also re-shared a tweet she wrote in 2017, when she responded to similar criticism for taking a picture with an Israeli fan in Jordan who spoke Arabic, according to The New Arab. That same year Ajram reportedly asked an Israeli journalist from Yedioth Ahronoth to leave a press conference she held before her performance as part of a cultural festival in Jordan.

Yehudith Dosh, the Israeli fan who took photos with Ajram at the latter’s concert in Cyprus and even went on stage to give her flowers, told Israel’s N12 news outlet she was totally unaware of the outrage that her photos caused.

“I haven’t heard about the story at all,” she said. “I went on stage, took a picture with her and we didn’t even talk, I just gave her the flowers. Her fan page uploaded the clip to Instagram and they tagged me. I didn’t think it would cause a commotion.” The Holon native and Tel Aviv resident added that she is a big fan of Ajram’s and has flown abroad before to see her in concert.

“We listen to her songs at home and I was exposed to her because my parents are of Lebanese origin,” Dosh explained. “I understand Lebanese, I’m excited to see her every time and it was a dream to go on stage. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll go visit her at a concert in Beirut and have her come to perform in Jerusalem. The Lebanese and Israelis want and can live in peace, the problem for all of us is the terrorist organizations.”

Ajram is one of the Middle East’s biggest pop icons and has multiple times won the award for best-selling artist in the Middle East and Arab world. She is the first Arabic artist with the first Arabic language song to debut on the top ten of the Billboard Dance Charts, with her collaboration with Marshmello called Sah Sah.