It’s just like Achinoam Nini — better known as Noa — to quote a fellow singer-songwriter during a chat. The Israeli superstar draws on an old Joni Mitchell lyric to describe herself as “a woman of heart and mind.”
Famed as much for her outspoken left-wing politics as for her sparklingly clear soprano, Noa, 47, is set to make a rare Bay Area appearance with a Nov. 6 concert at San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El.
That night she will perform solo, though on several dates on her current U.S. tour Noa shares the stage with Israeli Arab singer Mira Awad. The friends represent different faiths and ethnicities, but both preach peace and coexistence.
Their friendship drew a worldwide audience of millions during the 2009 Eurovision contest in which Noa and Awad performed the duet, “There Must Be a Better Way.”
“Our performance was at the same time historical, controversial and exciting, inspiring hope,” Noa says. “We were attacked and admired, questioned and applauded.”
Since launching her career in 1990, Noa has recorded 10 studio albums and four live albums, and has toured the world. Of Yemenite Jewish ancestry, she sings in Hebrew, English Arabic and occasionally in Spanish and French. “Whatever it takes to reach the widest possible audience,” she says.
She sees it as her artistic duty to use music as a vehicle to teach peace. That has occasionally gotten her into trouble with some elements of Israeli society, who see her as veering too far to the left politically.
Critics cite her support of organizations such as Peace Now, Rabbis for Human Rights and the New Israel Fund as evidence she is too accommodating of the Palestinian perspective.
Noa disagrees. She feels it is her duty as “a human being who is also a woman, a mother, a Jew, an Israeli and an artist” to raise her voice, whatever the cost.
“BDS [the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement] has attacked me for collaborating with the Israel government, and right-wing Jews have attacked me for criticizing the Israeli government,” she says. “Both are right. I have represented my country and been assisted by foreign ministries and other government offices over the years. At the same time, I have deeply criticized the present Israeli government for what I feel to be its extremely destructive course of action.”
Noa chides Jews in the diaspora who offer unequivocal support of Israel, even when it “builds more and more illegal settlements, abuses the rights of millions of Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and spits in the face of its closest friends, including the United States.”
She believes that could eventually lead to Israel’s demise. However, she quickly follows that with an “on the other hand” observation.
“Israel is full of amazing people,” she adds, “Arabs, Jews, Christians , Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has more peace, coexistence and human rights organizations per capita than any other country in the world. There is much to be proud of in Israel, but there is also much to be done.”
Born in Tel Aviv but having grown up in the United States from a young age, Noa reveled in the music of artists such as Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, although she also took to the Yemenite music of her parents, both Israelis of Yemenite extraction. She returned to Israel when she was 17. Her American, Jewish, Yemenite and Israeli personas blended into the pop star she is today.
Noa’s last album, “Love Medicine,” which was sung entirely in English, came out last year. As for her next album, she says she is in “contemplation mode.”
Meanwhile, Noa continues touring and speaking out against what she sees as injustice.
“I have followed my heart, and it has brought me to the most amazing places, difficult and glorious all at once,” she says. “But with any path you follow, life is a balancing act. I have been on that tightrope for years now.”
Noa performs at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 at Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake Street, S.F. $18-$75.