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Fifteen Eighty Four

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28
Aug
2008

Beatlemania in Israel

I had never heard about this incident before.

The Beatles were booked for a 1965 concert in Israel, but organizers were denied permission to pay them (in foreign currency), canceling the show because “The Beatles have an insufficient artistic level and cannot add to the spiritual and cultural life of the youth in Israel.”

The Times reported yesterday on Paul McCartney’s upcoming concert, and the Israeli London embassy only apologized to McCartney and Starr last year.

Whoa.

The best part of the article:

“The Hebrew name for the group printed on the tickets is also worth noting. The performers may have been universally known as the Beatles, but in Israel, then still trying earnestly to create a culture buffered from foreign words and influence, they were Hipushiot Haketzev, or the Beat Beetles (like the bugs).”

The Full Article >>

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