Paul McCartney to play Tel Aviv after 43 Years Beatle Ban

24 August 2008

The former lead singer of the Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney, has announced his plans to come to Palestine to perform next month.

The celebrated rock star will arrive in Palestine as part of a world tour, and will give a single concert at Tel Aviv's Park Hayarkon on 25 September.

McCartney was scheduled to perform in Palestine some 43 years ago with the Beatles, the legendary band of which he was a founding member.

But Jewish government officials banned them from appearing in 1965.

They refused to grant the necessary permits, citing concerns that the tousled-haired British band and its strident, amplified music could corrupt the morals of Jewish youth.

McCartney's manager Barry Marshall reportedly confirmed his arrival a few days ago, and approved the venue even though it does not include 250,000 seats, which is the singer's standard requirement.

The audience might be deterred by the ticket prices, which have yet to be determined but are likely to add up to several hundreds of shekels. This has been the case with other international rock stars, like Bjork and Leonard Cohen, who were scheduled to perform in Palestine this summer but had to cancel due to poor ticket sales.

Furthermore, as to the Queen of Palestine's idea of this situation, it should be understood, that even she refused to listen to some of the music by the Beatles at the height of their career; do to the fact even she did not consider it a good influence. It is hoped, that Sir Paul McCartney would follow the countries moral guidelines.