Reggae star Alpha Blondy in Israel to meet 'big brother Jesus'

"Bonjour maman" were the first words that Ivorian reggae star Alpha Blondy said Sunday when he arrived in Israel and entered the VIP reception room at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Blondy, a social activist from Cote D'Ivoire who rose to fame as one of reggae's best known performers when he came out against apartheid, was addressing Israeli ex-ambassador Dr. Tamar Golan, who came to the airport to greet him.

After hugging his host and longtime friend, Golan, who let out a few yelps of maternal joy upon seeing him, Blondy introduced his wife, Ran Young Hong Kone to her and to his country's ambassador to Israel, Prof. Koudou Kessie Raymond, who came to the airport at 3 A.M. with the embassy's entire staff.

For Alpha Blondy, who will perform on Wednesday at the inauguration ceremony of a Ben Gurion University's Africa Centre headed by Golan, this is his "fifth or fourth" visit in Israel. But it's a first for his wife.

"We have to go to Jerusalem to say hello to my big brother Jesus," he told her in his booming voice. "I've been here a few times before, you see, so I know where we can find him."

In his performance at the two-day inauguration event at BGU, Blondy plans to sing the eulogy he wrote for slain former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, as well another hit number entitled "Jerusalem."

"I wrote 'Jerusalem' in 1985 on my first visit, after thinking about Jesus," reminisced Blondy, who was born to a Muslim mother and a Christian father. "When I arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I thought that if I tell people back home that I saw the grave of Jesus, they will tell me: 'Alpha, you better stop smoking ganja.'"

A vocal critic of social injustice and war crimes during the Ivorian Civil War, back home Blondy is seen not only as a singer, but as a social activist, according to some of the 10 diplomats present.

A few weeks ago Blondy announced his support for Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who declared last week he will run for office early next year in the recovering country's first election since 2000. The country remains divided following a civil war which erupted following a botched coup d'etat against Gbagbo's regime in 2002.

"I support Gbagbo because I support peacemakers and not warmongers," said Blondy, in an apparent reference to Gbagbo's elections rival and prime minister, Guillaume Soro, head of the former rebel New Forces.

	Alpha Blondy with Dr. Tamar Golan and Ivorian Ambassador Prof. Koudou Kessie Raymond.