Peace activist and actor shrug off protests over plan to appear together at this year's song contest in Moscow

Israel's entry for this year's Eurovision song contest, a rare pairing of a Jewish and an Arab singer, has sparked criticism from Arab artists at a time of tense relations in the wake of the Gaza conflict.

Achinoam Nini, a popular Jewish Israeli singer and peace activist, often known just as Noa, will sing a duet with Mira Awad, a well-known Arab Israeli singer and actor. The pair have worked together in the past and are rehearsing four songs in Hebrew, Arabic and English, one of which will be chosen through a television broadcast next month, before they take part in Eurovision in Moscow this May.

The day after Israel launched its war on Gaza in late December, Nini, 39, was selected by the Israel Broadcasting Authority and promptly suggested she pair up with Awad, who was born in Galilee and now lives in Tel Aviv. Awad, 33, who appeared to enthusiastic reviews in a popular Israeli television sitcom last year, will be the first Arab to represent Israel at the competition. About a fifth of Israel's citizens are Arabs, who have equal rights but who for years have faced discrimination.

The idea for the duo came quickly to Nini, who is a very public supporter of left-wing causes in Israel and joint Jewish-Arab organisations. However, it has provoked a sharp reaction at a time of heightened tensions both with the war in Gaza and the electoral success of a far-right Jewish politician, Avigdor Lieberman, who wants all Arab Israelis to swear an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state or lose their citizenship.

A group of Arab artists, some Israeli, some Palestinian, sent Awad an open letter calling on her to withdraw from the performance.

"The Israeli government is sending the two of you to Moscow as part of its propaganda machine that is trying to create the appearance of Jewish-Arab coexistence under which it carriers out the daily massacre of Palestinian civilians," the letter said. "Please, Mira, for the children of Gaza and for the future of every child in this land — Arabs and Jews — don't be an accomplice to the killing machine."

However, the pair appear undeterred. Awad said she wanted to make the point that Jews and Arabs had no choice but to find a way to live together. "It's very important for me not to go back to the corner and just disappear," she told the Associated Press.

Nini said millions would be watching the duo on stage and this was their opportunity to send a message of peace. "Some people will see an Arab girl who looks Jewish and a Jewish girl who looks Arab, which is what we are. Maybe it will open some people's minds," she said.

Previous Israeli Eurovision contenders make an eclectic mix. Two years ago the choice was a band called the Teapacks from the southern Israeli town of Sderot, long targeted by rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza. Their song, about the threat of terrorism, was called Push the Button. But the most successful was the transsexual known as Dana International, who swept to overall victory in 1998 with a song called Diva.