Kiss at concert infuriates MPs

Published Date: October 06, 2008
By B Izzak, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Islamist MPs yesterday called on the government to act and apply the law with regard to what they called "immoral violations" committed at a musical concert held at the Al-Raya hotel on Friday night. The concert was cancelled halfway through by Information Ministry inspectors after a teenage girl reportedly hugged and kissed popular Egyptian singer Tamer Hosni.

Following disputes over musical concerts, the government introduced strict controls in May 2004 that prohibited the audience from dancing and imposed stricter segregation of the sexes. Some Islamist MPs threatened action if the interior and information ministries did not apply the law. They also called on the commerce ministry to penalize the owner of the hotel.

Qanas Al-Adwani, who heads the government department that monitors public entertainment, said the girl's behavior at Friday's concert "defied the conservative traditions" of Kuwait. Al-Adwani also said Sunday that the fan's behavior broke the controls on public entertainment. Concerts have to be licensed by the government, and monitors from the Information Ministry watch the crowd to make sure nobody stands up to dance.

Source: Kuwait Times

Paul McCartney Performs First Israel Concert in Tel Aviv

Sir Paul McCartney:
Terrorists, F.U.!

Sept. 25, 2008: Paul McCartney performs in Tel Aviv.

TEL AVIV, Israel — After a 43-year wait, Paul McCartney performed his first concert in Israel on Thursday, kicking it off with the familiar Beatles' song "Hello, Goodbye" to the joy of tens of thousands of cheering fans.

McCartney billed the concert "Friendship First," saying he is on a mission of peace for Israel and the Palestinians.

Singing "Give Peace a Chance," he stopped and let the audience sing the chorus alone. He told his fans, "Here tonight you sang it, you want it." He dedicated the song to his fellow Beatle, John Lennon, who was killed in New York in 1980.

Fireworks lit the sky as he sang "Live and Let Die."

After it was officially announced last month, the concert set off a wave of excitement throughout the country, where visits by A-list celebrities are still a novelty. Almost all of Tel Aviv's nightclubs canceled live entertainment Thursday evening in deference to the rock legend.

A crowd made up of Israelis of all ages, estimated at 40,000, cheered McCartney as he performed outdoors in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park on a warm late summer night. Some wore T-shirts with the slogan, "I love Paul."
McCartney greeted the crowd with a mixture of English and Hebrew, wishing them "shana tova," happy new year, ahead of next week's Jewish new year holiday. His repertoire 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.

Nadav Erez, 31, from the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, danced enthusiastically throughout the concert. "He should have come here long ago, he should have come again and again, he should come again and again and again," Erez said.

McCartney was first scheduled to appear in Israel with the Beatles in 1965. But in one of the country's most widely repeated tales, an Israeli official supposedly called off the concert for fear it would corrupt the nation's youth. Only in recent weeks, it turns out the story may not have been true.

So pervasive is this story that Israel's ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, sent a letter to the surviving members of the band to express regret over the matter.

"Israel missed a chance to learn from the most influential musicians of the decade, and the Beatles missed an opportunity to reach out to one of the most passionate audiences in the world," he wrote. He told them the country would like to make it up to them by inviting them to play during this year's celebrations marking Israel's 60th anniversary. Only two of the four Beatles, McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr, are still alive.

When McCartney announced plans for Thursday's concert, he acknowledged the ancient brouhaha, saying he was finally coming "43 years after being banned by the Israeli government." He promised to give Israelis "the night they have been waiting decades for."

Ahead of the McCartney concert, newspaper columnist Yossi Sarid, son of the Israeli official who allegedly banned the Beatles, went on a campaign to clear his father's name. Sarid claimed his father had nothing to do with the decision, and that it involved a more mundane feud between two Israeli concert promoters.

Sarid, reached ahead of the concert, said had not heard from McCartney's people and had no plans to attend the concert. "The tickets are too expensive," he said.

A small group of Palestinians urged McCartney to call off the show, saying it was supporting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. A radical Muslim preacher in Lebanon also called on McCartney to cancel the show.

During a visit to the biblical town of Bethlehem on Wednesday, McCartney brushed off the criticism.

"I get criticized everywhere I go, but I don't listen to them," McCartney said. "I'm bringing a message of peace, and I think that's what the region needs."

Hundreds of police and private security guards were deployed at the concert. But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there were no concrete threats against the singer, and no extraordinary security precautions were being taken.

Source: FoxNews

McCartney finally gets to Israel

Sir Paul McCartney:
Terrorists, F.U.!

From correspondents in Jerusalem | September 24, 2008

POP icon Paul McCartney, one of two surviving members of the Beatles, arrived in Israel today ahead of his first-ever concert in the Jewish state.

The British musician told journalists and fans who greeted him at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv that he wanted to bring "a message of peace and love'' to the Middle East, according to Israeli public radio.

He will perform an outdoor concert in Tel Aviv tomorrow.

The gig, part of a series of one-off concerts in places the 66-year-old musician has never visited before, comes after two previous unsuccessful attempts by McCartney to perform in the Jewish state.

The Beatles drew up plans to play in Israel at the height of Beatlemania in 1965, but they were cancelled after sponsors failed to raise enough money and lawmakers voiced concern that they might corrupt young Israeli minds.

McCartney also nearly performed in Israel in the late 1970s, but concerts with his post-Beatles band Wings were cancelled due to problems with the venues, he said in comments posted on his website.

In January Israel apologised for the cancellation of the 1965 concert in letters to the two surviving members of the Beatles - McCartney and Ringo Starr - and the families of deceased members John Lennon and George Harrison.

McCartney has played a number of one-off concerts this year, including the "Independence Concert" in Ukraine in June and in Quebec in July.

Source:The Australian