McCartney Israel Gig Sparks Controversy

Paul McCartney visited Christ's birthplace in the Palestinian West Bank town of Bethlehem yesterday while Israel claimed a visit he also made to their country, including a concert in Tel Aviv, was a political victory for the Jewish state.

Israel's ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, described McCartney's tour as a "diplomatic success of great import".

"When one of the most admired musicians in the world not only expresses his willingness to visit Tel Aviv, but also publicly talks about the positive things he's heard about Israel, this is an Israeli diplomatic and PR success of the first order," Prosor wrote in the local daily, Maíariv.

Several Palestinian groups urged McCartney to cancel his trip while an Islamic militant told a British paper that the 66-year-old rock star risked being the target of a suicide bombing attack if he visited Israel. But McCartney, who insists the trip to Israel is in keeping with the rest of his world tour to places he's never performed before, wrote on his website: "The world knows about the conflicts that have been in that region and I like to think that if I go to a place it becomes evident that my message is a peaceful one and I hope that the idea will spread."

McCartney visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as well as the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music where he jammed with Palestinian children.

McCartney's entourage has booked 21 suites in the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv. A butler has been posted on 24-hour duty in McCartney's suite and the hotel's chef has been instructed to cooperate with his personal chef.

Ahead of McCartney's performance this evening, a coalition of international aid agencies says today that the Quartetof world powers charged with mediating the peace process - the UN, EU, US and Russia - is failing either to improve the lives of Palestinians or the prospects for reaching a settlement with Israel. Oxfam, Care International, Christian Aid, Save the Children and 17 other organizations say the Quartet is losing credibility because it has made inadequate progress or seen key indicators deteriorate since the Annapolis summit last November.

Israel continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land and there has been only a negligible improvement in the Palestinians' ability to move freely in their own territory, to work, reach their schools or access basic services, they say.

The number of obstacles - checkpoints, the West Bank security barrier and restricted roads - increased from 561 at the time of Annapolis to about 600 in August even though Tony Blair, the Quartet's envoy, made the issue of movement and access a priority. Blair is to brief leaders of the group when they meet at the UN in New York tomorrow.

Separate reports from the World Bank, IMF and the UN (also prepared for the Quartet meeting) present similarly gloomy views of the big picture in the conflict. Despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Quartet has been unable to lift the blockade or secure a significant improvement in the humanitarian situation, the agencies say: 80% of Gaza's population remains wholly or partially dependent on aid, while stalled emergency relief projects have yet to be resumed.