Just another day in the life of Paul
Paul McCartney rocked out in Israel.
Israelis flock to local McCartney concert
Way back in 1965, the Beatles were supposed to perform in Israel but our government cancelled the concert before it ever took place. Israeli politicians in the Knesset believed that the long-haired rock band and its loud music could corrupt the minds of Israeli youth. Just like that, the Beatles were banned, disappointing die-hard fans throughout the country, many of whom had already purchased tickets (which, I understand, are collectors' items today).
Some 43 years later, Israel has finally righted its wrong by issuing an official apology to the Beatles and inviting the group's surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, to perform in the Holy Land. Sir Paul accepted the invitation and performed a long-awaited concert for a crowd of almost 60,000 fans at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park on Sept. 25 as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.
I wish I could gush about having gone to the concert but I just couldn't bring myself to pay the steep ticket price of about $140. And those are for the cheap seats where you have to bring your own chair or blanket and watch the concert from a modest distance on the grass. When you consider that attending the concert sets a couple back $280, the thought of listening to it broadcast on the radio suddenly doesn't sound so bad.
Luckily for Sir Paul and the concert organizers, there are lots of Israelis, including my brother-in-law Meir who knows the words to practically every Beatles song by heart, for whom money is no object when it comes to actually being at this historic event. They waited for it with drunken anticipation.
But not everyone is thrilled that the former Beatle played in Israel as indicated by the recent menacing comments made by some radical Muslim named Omar Bakri Muhammad to a British tabloid. This self-proclaimed preacher publicly warned Paul McCartney not to perform in Israel, citing "sacrifice operatives" who "will be waiting for him" if he does. I wonder if that's a euphemism for suicide bombers. Thanks to the capabilities of the Israeli security establishment, a fly wouldn't have been able to get near Paul McCartney without having been authorized to do so.
In the past, other performers have cancelled concerts in Israel citing "security reasons." Conversely, Roger Waters, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd who performed here last year, used the stage as a political platform to make pro-Arab statements and protest the security barrier.
McCartney, despite being shunned by the Israeli political establishment some four decades earlier, told Israeli reporters: "I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel".
Good for him. And good for his Israeli fans who wanted "nothing to get hungabout" as they let themselves get lost in the music at the Tel Aviv park, their Strawberry Fields Forever.
I can recall other top-tier foreign musicians who did not bend to security concerns. Sting, Madonna, Debbie Harry and Air Supply, to name a few, all performed in Israel. Ilan and I saw Joe Cocker in Jerusalem in the '90s and we loved him. At that time, there were no threats and no politics. Just a great night of music.
I read recently that negotiations for another Madonna concert in Tel Aviv are in their final stages. In light of her expressed interest in making a documentary about the Israel-Arab conflict, I can only hope that she won't turn her stage into a political rallying ground. Like I said, we just want to hear some good music and enjoy ourselves, taking a break, even for a little while, from a day in the life.
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