Turkey bans Jewish singer over support for Israel

The 86-year-old Macias told AFP he was “deeply surprised and saddened not to be able to see my audience, with whom I have always shared values of peace and fraternity”.

The singer was born into a Sephardic Jewish family to Algerian parents and was originally named Gaston Ghrenassia.

He left Algeria in 1961 during the country’s War of Independence and has not been allowed back ever since.

He adopted his stage name in 1962 and has accrued a significant audience both in France and abroad, selling out New York’s Carnegie Hall for his US debut in 1968.

However, his open support for Israel – touring the country several times – has made him a target for pro-Palestine protests.

Turkey is a longstanding critic of Israel and has become notorious for its anti-Zionist foreign policy, particularly under the Erdoğan government.

Indeed, Erdoğan was recently criticised by several of his Nato allies, including the UK, for openly calling for the destruction of the Jewish State.

At Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of Ramadan this year, he told the crowd: “We see and know what is happening in Palestine”.

“May Allah, for the sake of his name ‘Al-Qahhar,’ destroy and devastate Zionist Israel,” the Turkish president continued. “And may we all, witnessing what is happening there [in the Gaza Strip], stay united, strong and resilient as brothers; may Allah keep our unity everlasting.”

Al-Qahhar is one of the names of God in Islam and is often translated from Arabic as “The Conqueror,” “The Vanquisher,” or “The Subduer”.

In response, a Downing Street spokesperson told the JC that the UK government “of course” condemned Erdoğan’s comments, adding: “We would never support anything like that.”