JERUSALEM – Colombian pop singer Shakira promoted her global education campaign with a stop at a joint Israeli-Arab school in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Kicking off Israel's third annual President's Conference on Tuesday with a plea for children's education worldwide, Shakira, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, said the Holy Land was the "perfect place to talk about how urgent it is to invest in education."
"The most crucial decision we can make for a better tomorrow is how we educate our children," she said, speaking alongside her host, Israeli President Shimon Peres.
"How wonderful it would be if the world would act like a team. We have so many challenges ahead of us, so many problems to solve," she said. "This is the time to behave like a team, to wear the same T-shirts and to win the match of discrimination, to win the match of inequality and segregation."
Shakira, 34, whose many multilingual hits include "Hips Don't Lie," "Whenever, Wherever," and "Waka, Waka," has established a number of charitable foundations dedicated toward advancing education.
She was born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll in Colombia and has Lebanese heritage.
Shakira began her comments alongside with a single "shalom" - Hebrew for both hello and peace - and after a young girl presented her with a necklace, she said "toda" - Hebrew for thanks.
The previous day, Shakira visited Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
Shakira is accompanied in Israel by her boyfriend, Spanish national football team star and Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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