Paul McCartney to ignore Israel gig objections
Beatles man will press ahead with Tel Aviv date despite protests
Paul McCartney has said he will ignore campaigners who are calling for him to cancel his first ever gig in Israel.
Protesters have asked The Beatles man to reconsider playing the Tel Aviv gig later this month over the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip blockade.
McCartney has refused to cancel the show, set for Hayarkon Park on September 25, telling the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: "I do what I think, and I have many friends who support Israel."
A Beatles gig was pulled by the Israeli government in 1965 on the grounds it could corrupt the nation's youth, and the band were subsequently banned from performing in the state.
"The Beatles had a pretty positive influence on the world and only regimes that wanted to control their peoples were afraid of us," McCartney told the newspaper. "We mostly laughed at the Israeli government decision."
Protesters have asked The Beatles man to reconsider playing the Tel Aviv gig later this month over the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip blockade.
McCartney has refused to cancel the show, set for Hayarkon Park on September 25, telling the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: "I do what I think, and I have many friends who support Israel."
A Beatles gig was pulled by the Israeli government in 1965 on the grounds it could corrupt the nation's youth, and the band were subsequently banned from performing in the state.
"The Beatles had a pretty positive influence on the world and only regimes that wanted to control their peoples were afraid of us," McCartney told the newspaper. "We mostly laughed at the Israeli government decision."
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