Key points
- Singer expresses shock, defends stance
- UK charges six over Palestine Action support
- Protests planned in London, Derry, Edinburgh
ISLAMABAD: Turkish authorities on Wednesday said they have banned a planned concert on Friday in Istanbul by Enrico Macias after calls to protest the French singer’s pro-Israeli views.
The Istanbul said in a statement that it had wanted to prevent any demonstrations on the sidelines of the concert “against the genocide of the terrorist state Israel in Gaza and its supporters,” according to AFP.
The 86-year-old singer told the media that he has performed in Turkey for 60 years and is “deeply surprised and saddened not to be able to see my audience, with whom I have always shared values of peace and fraternity.”
Macias, who was born into a Jewish family in Algeria, has on several occasions defended Israel’s lethal response to Hamas’s deadly October 2023 attacks.
Arab-Andalusian music
Macias has lived in France since 1961, where he has contributed to the popularity of Arab-Andalusian music.
Meanwhile, British authorities have charged six people for participating in meetings to plan a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The six, aged from 26 to 62, were charged “with various offences of encouraging support for a proscribed terrorist organisation”, the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
They were placed in detention and are due to appear in court on Thursday. They risk up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action
Palestine Action was designated a terrorist organisation and banned in July after vandalism at a Royal Air Force base.
The charges result from 13 online meetings they attended to prepare for several protests over the summer.
During an online press conference on Wednesday, representatives of the group Defend Our Juries, to which the arrested individuals belonged, confirmed that demonstrations would go ahead on Saturday in London, Derry in Northern Ireland, and Edinburgh in Scotland, according to The Telegraph.
British police have made arrests at recent protests in support of Palestine Action.
British film director Ken Loach, who attended the event, called the ban on Palestine Action “absurd” and accused the government of being complicit in Israel’s “incredible crimes” in Gaza.
