Paul McCartney Plays Israel Gig | Peace Protest or Pretentious Publicity Stunt?
September 28, 2008 by Dave Parrack
Paul McCartney finally played live in Israel on Thursday September 25th, 2008, over 40 years since The Beatles were banned from the country for their potential to corrupt the country’s young people. But, was this high profile gig an honourable peace protest, or was it just a pretentious publicity stunt from McCartney?
Israel banned The Beatles from playing in Israel in 1965 due to the upsetting effect of Beatlemania. It took 40 years for the ban to be lifted, but once it was, one of the only two surviving members of the band wasted no time in organising a concert in the war torn country.
Paul McCartney’s gig was billed as a concert of peace, and McCartney was very careful not to be seen taking sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine that has been going on for decades. On Thursday night, McCartney played Tel Aviv, and by all accounts, it was a successful set by anyone’s standards.
Before the concert, McCartney also took the time and trouble to visit different parts of the area, calling for peace along the way. During the gig itself, McCartney wore a lapel badge supporting One Voice, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation calling for a two-state solution to the conflict.
McCartney kicked off the gig by playing Hello, Goodbye, and sprinkled his set with Beatles classics. The 40,000 strong crowd also saw him perform many of his own solo material, including Live and Let Die with an accompanying fireworks display.