Rabat – The Moroccan Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (MACBI), a boycott movement, has called for the boycott of French singer Enrico Macias’s concert in Casablanca scheduled for next month.
In a statement on January 13, the MACBI described Macias’s presence on stage at Megarama on February 14 a “shame and an insult to the Casablanca public.”
The French singer of Algerian Jewish descent who “likes to present himself as an artist for peace” is “in fact a strong defender” of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and especially the Israeli defense army, Tsahal, reads the statement.
In 1980, former UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim Macias’s named Macias “Singer of Peace” after he donated one of his songs’ proceeds to the UNICEF.
MACBI stated that Macias is giving his blood, sweat and tears to the association Migdal, which supports the the Israel border police, Magav.
Magav, according to boycott movement, is “known for its war crimes against the civilian population.”
The MACAB’s statement, which the Moroccan-Jewish human rights activist Sion Assidon published on his Facebook page, cited some of Macias pro-Israeli statement he gave in French more than 10 years ago.
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“From the beginning of my life, I have always devoted my body and soul to the State of Israel but primarily to Tsahal, but now to Magav … I do not do this neither for my advertisement, nor for my career, nor anything at all … I always gave for the State of Israel, for Tsahal, Magav, and for Migdal. Believe me, that’s the miracle of Israel.”
The Israeli defense ministry decorated Macias in 2006 for “his support for the State of Israel and its army throughout his career,” noted MACAB.
Macias’s real name is Gaston Ghrenassia. He is a songwriter and musician who was born in December 1938 in Constantine. Macias left Algeria with his wife in July 1961 to live in France.
His most well-known songs are “J’ai quitté mon pays” (I left my country) and “Les filles de mon pays” (Girls of my country), which he sang in the 1960s.
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