Israel
Says She Loves You To Beatles Paul McCartney
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem,
Israel --- August 31, 2008 ..... Life is certainly a magical
mystery tour. And for those of us who live in Israel, the long
and winding road just became a bit more scenic. With the surprise
announcement by Beatles singer and composer Sir Paul McCartney
that he will be performing in Tel Aviv next month, the Jewish
nation has taken a smiling leap back 40 years in time.
From
car radios, open market CD players and inside elegant, modern
stores, the warm, loving, magical and mythical blends of Beatles
music permeate every city and town in Israel. From Metulla,
Haifa and Katzrin in the North, to Hadera, Ra'anana, Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem to Ashkelon, Ashdod, Rehovot, Dimona and Eilat
in the south one can hear the sweet voices Paul, John, Ringo
and George.
A
host of Web 2.0 Facebook
and MySpace groups with a number of YouTube videos have been
created to celebrate and promote Sir Paul McCartney's historic
visit to the Holy Land.
In
January, Israel ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, handed a
letter of apology to Julia Baird, sister of the late John Lennon,
apologizing for a ban that Israel had placed on the Beatles
back in 1965.
The
story begins back 43 years ago when the Beatles were invited
to perform in Israel with a concert which never took place.
At the time Israel officials cited financial problems, but it
was more than money that kept the Beatles away. Official permission
required to withdraw precious foreign currency to pay the Beatles
was denied because a ministerial committee feared the corrupting
influence of four long-haired Englishmen.
The
Israel committee report put it: The Beatles have an insufficient
artistic level and cannot add to the spiritual and cultural
life of the youth in Israel.
Sounds
like this Israel committee was smoking stronger stuff than anything
the Beatles may have experienced with Lucy in the Sky with
Diamonds. The Israel politicians believed that The Beatles
would corrupt innocent Israeli youth. But was it really naive
Israel politicians?
Criticism
over the cancellation was directed at former Israel Education
Ministry Director-General Yaakov Schneider, whose ministry was
required to approve the performance of foreign bands in Israel.
In
a page one story in the newspaper Haaretz, former Minister
of Education and Environment Yossi Sarid stated that real cause
of the cancellation was due to a rivalry between two promoters
in Israel. One had been offered a Beatles concert in 1962, before
their star had risen, by Beatles manager, Brian Epstein,
and had turned them down. When a competitor booked them three
years later, the first promoter used his government connections
to keep the needed money from being disbursed.
I
can assure you that my father had never heard of the Beatles,
Sarid said this week. The promoter of course didnt
come to the government and say, I dont like this
other guy and I dont want him to get the money.
He said it is a lousy group and will corrupt the spirit of the
wonderful, brilliant, pure Israel youngsters. He exploited their
ignorance.
Fast
forward to
2008 in Liverpool. Prosor, one of Israel's most senior and long-serving
diplomats, was only seven years old when the "misunderstanding"
between London and Jerusalem took place. But Prosor is a man
who quite likely knows the lyrics to most Beatles tune and was
not about to miss out on an opportunity to enhance the celebration
of Israel's 60th birthday.
In a
letter he wrote to the Beatles and their relatives: There
is no doubt that it was a great missed opportunity to prevent
people like you, who shaped the minds of the generation, to
come to Israel and perform.
The
two surviving Beatles, Sir
Paul McCartney, 65, and Ringo Starr, 67, were expected to
join the anniversary celebrations in Israel in May but never
showed.
But
McCartney is no fool on the hill. He realizes the importance
of Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East and may even
see himself as one who may be able to bridge and come together
with some peace through his music.
A huge
outdoor concert in Tel Aviv on September 25 has been confirmed
by Sir McCartney.
In his
Website, Sir Paul McCartney announced his Friendship First
concert in Israel stating: "Israel will finally get the
chance to experience a night of music and history Macca-style;
the night they have been waiting decades for."
Sir
Paul added: Ive heard so many great things about
Tel Aviv and Israel, but hearing is one thing and experiencing
it for yourself is another. We are planning to have a great
time and a great evening. We cant wait to get out there
and rock.
The
Paul McCartney show, produced by promoter Dudu Zerzevsky, is
expected to cost upward of $8 million to produce and will require
a 100-person production team, extensive security, an extra-large
stage, an expansive sound system, and two vegetarian kitchens
at the show's location.
The
producers of the single appearance by Paul McCartney in Israel
expect to break even with a take of 10 million NIS on the event.
These numbers kick in before any sponsorships take place. The
businessman backing the event, Yakir Sha'ashua believes it will
attract a capacity crowd to Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park, which
can accommodate up to 70,000 people.
The
Israel business newspaper Globes states that the cost of bringing
Beatle Paul McCartney to Israel will reach over NIS 30 million,
half of which will go to McCartney and his promoters, while
the other half will cover production costs. Price now stand
at NIS 1,500 for a front row ticket and NIS 500 for just a seat
on grass in the park. The promoters will have to sell 50,000
tickets only to cover the cost. This is the initial quantity
which will go on sale at the Leean ticket offices.
According
to British media, McCartney, has invited his girlfriend, 47-year-old
New York Long Islander Nancy Shevell, to accompany him on the
tour. The couple just finished a monthlong road trip across
the famed Route 66 in the US, where they were spotted by shocked
fans at campsites, gas stations and motels.
But
the McCartney trip to Israel will be far from stealth.
Dozens
of hate sites have also popped up by Palestinians, Iran, Syria,
Hamas, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad and all those who believe that
Paul McCartney is an infidel.
Propagandist Eileen Fleming, who deserves a gold Olympic medal
for hateful incitement on an Arab Web site, does not give peace
a chance.
She states: "I wondered what Lennon might have said to
his old mate in regards to making money from an apartheid state.
Apartheid Israel continues to illegally occupy Palestinian and
other Arab lands."
We
in Israel ask what Apartheid?
Israel Arabs serve in the Knesset, they are equal citizens.
It is extreme Islam which truly practices apartheid with the
clear separation of men from women, treating women as second
class slaves, the murdering of homosexuals, labeling anyone
who is not Islamic an infidel and deserves to be beheaded in
the same manner as Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
In
fact, Islamic apartheid
transcends mere separation and ups the ante with the beheading
of anyone who argues with the Satanic verses of the Koran. Can
we also add Holocaust denial and clearly stating to "wipe
Israel off the map" to the above?
Fleming continues: "Israel has been "committing horrific
war crimes in the occupied Gaza Strip, where its illegal and
immoral policy of collective punishment - through a hermetic
military siege and an almost complete blockage of fuel, electric
power, and even food and medicine - is pushing 1.5 million Palestinian
civilians to the brink of starvation. Israel's wanton killings
of civilians, demolition of homes and property, uprooting of
more than a million fruit bearing trees, incessant theft of
land and water resources, denial of freedom of movement to millions,
dividing indigenous Palestinian's into Bantustans caged by walls,
fences and hundreds of roadblocks, is not to be celebrated,
but condemned and changed."
Can
Fleming pass the pipe? Is that grass, hash or crack?
She is about as stoned as the committee which originally rejected
the Beatles back in 1965!
Eileen,
sorry to bust your bubble, but if you have not heard, Iran backed
Hamas controls Gaza, not Israel. And as for starvation where
are the Arab nations helping the citizens of Gaza? They don't
need too as over 300 humanitarian UN and Red Cross trucks defy
Hamas daily, bringing in food, medicine and fuel.
Gaza
has food and water. They only thing that Gazans lack are freedom
and democracy.
Eileen,
do you think Iran will invite Sir Paul to play in Teheran? Nah,
they will probably think that he will corrupt Iran youth.
David Horovitz, editor of the Jerusalem Post puts it
right.
Horovitz
states that: "after all these years of waiting for you,
Sir Paul, what we're getting is just "a day in the life."
David now places some Beatles lyrics into Israeli reality.
Any
Time At All - Let me get the complaint in early: I know
we banned you in 1965, but did it really have to take this long?
"Any time at all." That's what you promised. "All
you gotta do is call, and I'll be there." That was 43 years
ago! Forty-three years to answer the phone?
Come
Together - All credit to John Lennon for this astoundingly
prescient critique of our internal divides, of the boundless
intolerance we in the Jewish state exhibit for approaches to
Judaism that differ from our own. I guess we're not "good
looking" enough, because those opportunities for Jewish
harmony really shouldn't be "so hard to see."
Drive
My Car - In Israel? Are you crazy? Take my advice, Sir Paul:
Let someone else drive it.
Eight
Days A Week - You sing it, Israel lives it - six-day work
week, two-day weekend. What we really need is nine days a week,
so that the Orthodox among us get a proper weekend too.
Give
Peace A Chance - Believe me, Paulie, we've tried. We said
yes to two states in 1948, and we've been doing so ever since.
Have you thought about singing this to the Iranians?
The
Beatles were a pop and rock group from Liverpool, England which
was formed in 1960.
The
talented and creative group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm
guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George
Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals).
The
Beatles are recognised for leading the 1960s musical "British
Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial
musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown
skiffle, the group explored new musical sounds ranging from
Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, hair styles,
and political statements made them trend-setters, while their
growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the
social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.
After
the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked upon solo
careers.
The
Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically
acclaimed bands in the history of popular music, selling over
a billion records internationally. In the United Kingdom, The
Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and
EPs that reached number one, earning more number one albums
than any other group in English chart history. This commercial
success was repeated in many other countries; their record company,
EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records
worldwide.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America,
The Beatles have sold more albums in the United States than
any other band. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles
number one on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
According to Rolling Stone, The Beatles' innovative music and
cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence
on pop culture is still very evident today.
The
Hebrew name for the Beatles back in 1965 which was printed on
the tickets is worth noting. The performers may have been universally
known as the Beatles, but in Israel, then still trying to create
a culture buffered from foreign words and influence, they were
Hipushiot Haketzev, or the Beat Beetles (like the bugs). What
will the tickets look like in 2008?
In the
rapidly growing Facebook group - Israel
Welcomes Beatles Sir James Paul McCartney To Tel Aviv
- this writer comments: "The producers Dudu and Boaz Zerzevsky
and yourself are very well aware that your visit represents
a true, defining moment of history. As such, please be aware
that Tel Aviv is not New York, London, Montreal, Rome or Paris.
One out of four children live in poverty in Israel. The average
wage is 1,500 USD per month.
The
average Israeli cannot even dream of seeing nor hearing you
live.
Please, as a respected humanitarian, produce two more concerts
- one in Jerusalem and the other in Haifa. Donate a part of
the proceeds to our hungry children.
Please
lower the cost of the non-VIP tickets. For as of this moment,
the non-VIP tickets ARE VIP tickets - well out of the reach
of the Israeli public.
Paul
- we wish you a safe, fun and comfortable trip to this magical
Holy Land.
May your presence and music unite the many divisions for which
the peoples of this region suffer from.
And perhaps you just might want to drop in on English educated
Syria President Bashar Assad and ask him to remove a few landmines
from the Syria and Lebanon borders. Don't let it be."
The
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