Ramallah  - Two world renowned musicians have recently cancelled performances in Ramallah after Palestinian political groups called for their boycott, Palestinian sources said Tuesday.

Argentinian-born Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, who has lived for years in Germany, has decided not to lead a local orchestra of young Palestinian musicians performing an Arabic opera scheduled to open Tuesday at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, they said.

Canadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen has also cancelled a performance in Ramallah scheduled for later this summer during a tour in Israel.

While the opera's organizers told the German Press Agency dpa that it was not as of yet clear whether Barenboim would lead the orchestra on the third and final day of the show Friday, other Palestinian sources confirmed to dpa that Barenboim would not come at all.

The scheduled appearance of Barenboim in Ramallah had stirred heated debate among Palestinians. Barenboim - otherwise known as a staunch critic of Israel's policies
- had sparked their anger by stating in reference to last winter's three-week offensive in Gaza that Israel had a right to defend itself.

Over 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in the assault, in addition to 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.

Palestinian intellectual groups active in calling for a - mainly cultural - boycott of Israel had condemned Barenboim's statements.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 awarded honorary Palestinian citizenship to the Berlin resident for his stance against the Israeli action and his support of Palestinian rights.

The boycott groups nonetheless charged Barenboim was using his influence to push for normalization of ties between Arabs and Israelis.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club meanwhile decided not to host Leonard Cohen in Ramallah later this summer, after he refused to cancel his Tel Aviv performance.

"Cohen is not welcome in Ramallah as long as he insists on performing in Tel Aviv," said the boycott groups.

"We considered his performance in Israel a form of complicity in its grave violations of international law," they said.(dpa)