September 25th, 2008
Sir Paul Wows Tel Aviv
It’s been 40 years since Israel banned the Beatles, but Sir Paul McCartney traveled ‘the long and winding road’ to step onto the stage at Tel Aviv tonight and wow his Israeli fans with a fantastic concert.
The ‘decadent’ Fab Four were banned from performing back in 1965 by a conservative Israeli government over concerns about the corrupting influence the Beatles would have on the country’s youth. Those children are all grown up now and they came and brought children of their own as well as grandchildren to watch the legendary guitarist do what he does best.
He kicked off with ‘Hello, Goodbye’, a Beatle’s hit and told fans he was on a peace mission on behalf of the Israelis and Palestinians. As he sang the hit Give Peace a Chance, he stopped before the chorus to encourage the fans to sing along, saying to them: ‘Here tonight you sing it, you want it.’
His lineup included many Beatles hits, as well as songs from his post-Beatles group, Wings.
The songs included: Yesterday, Back in the USSR, Hey Jude and Jet. He added two encores for the cheering crowd.
He had hired a £1.5million security operation to protect him which included a massive 5,000 personnel guarding him during his stay.
This came after extremists including radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed warned Sir Paul to cancel the controversial visit out ‘of respect of the feelings of Muslims in Palestine’.
But after waiting 40 years, Paul decided to go ahead as planned. He said on his website that he hoped his concert at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, which is being billed as part of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations, would ‘reawaken’ the idea of peace.
He said: ‘The world knows about the conflicts that have been in that region and I like to think that if I go to a place it becomes evident that my message is a peaceful one and I hope that the idea will spread.
‘Music can help people to just calm them down. I also think it can be very interesting for change.
‘Songs like We Shall Overcome have been very important for the civil rights movement so yeah, I think music is great and it can make changes.’
