Adams' peace concerts called off

Adams' hits include Everything I Do and Summer of '69

Concerts calling for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been scrapped after Palestinian supporters were threatened, organisers said.

Rocker Bryan Adams was due to headline two concerts held simultaneously in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the West Bank town of Jericho on 18 October.

But security fears led to the Jericho gig being scrapped last week, followed by the Tel Aviv concert on Sunday.

Israeli and Palestinian artists were also due to perform.

The shows had been criticised by some Palestinians who said the One Voice group which organised them ignored key Palestinian perspectives on a lasting peace, including the issue Palestinian refugees.

Free events

The concerts were organised by the New York-based One Voice, which aims to collect one million signatures from ordinary Israelis and Palestinians demanding that political leaders finalise an agreement on a Palestinian state living at peace with Israel.

Concert-goers attending the free events would have been asked to sign the One Voice petition.

Organiser Daniel Lubetzky decided to call off the Jericho event last week.

He said: "Extremist ideologists have threatened our participants in Jericho, and we felt it is our responsibility not to play with their lives."

He did not give any details of the nature of the threats.

The Tel Aviv concert was later cancelled in solidarity.

"Our mission is not to entertain... It is to mobilize moderate voices," said Mr Lubetzky. "If we have to postpone, we have to postpone."

One Voice's campaign has received support from Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman and Danny de Vito.

Leading Palestinians who initially supported the event have since distanced themselves from it.

Around 600,000 people have so far signed the organisation's petition.