Macias, now 85 and completing his farewell tour in Quebec these days, declared on social media and on the CNews television network that the Palestinians and members of the political party should be “kicked out” La France Insoumise, who refused to label the Hamas attacks as terrorists.
“It is not us who programmed this show, it is the private Montreal producer Patrick Levy and it has been programmed since the summer of 2023, that is to say before the attacks and the declarations of Mr. Macias,” explains Ms. Sylvie Roberge , general director of the Palais Montcalm.
“Well honestly, we weren’t aware of what he said. We learned about it this morning. If we had known before bookingwe would surely have discussed it before accepting,” she adds.
Letter of denunciation
It was a letter from the Quebec Collective for Peace that put the Palace management on notice.
The missive aimed to denounce the presence at the Montcalm Palace of Enrico Macias, who gave his support to the Israeli army and publicly made statements that the Collective equates to calls for genocide. She also invited the management of the performance hall to publicly distance themselves from her comments.
“Enrico Macias is a Zionist Jew and he has had these positions for at least 20 years.”
— Normand Lemyre, spokesperson for the Quebec Collective for Peace
“But after October 7, 2023, his positions became radicalized when he called for knock out the Palestinians and France Insoumise,” notes Mr. Normand Lemyre, spokesperson for the Collective, which defines itself as anti-Zionist, but not anti-Semitic.
Mr. Lemyre also spoke with Ms. Roberge on Wednesday. “We explained each other well and agreed on the facts. She deplores Enrico Macias’ comments, but somehow told us that she had nothing to do with it, because it is a private producer who is organizing this tour.
Another deplored concert
Mr. Lemyre and the Collective were also against the Israeli Chamber Project’s chamber music show Thursday evening at the Palais Montcalm and Friday at the Anglicane in Lévis.
“Three of the members of the ensemble have Zionist accounts on Facebook or TikTok, that should ring alarm bells!” laments Mr. Lemyre.
He recalls that the International Criminal Court had just issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Not a position
“It’s a very delicate subject,” admitted Sylvie Roberge.
“The fact that this show is presented here is not at all a position taken by the Palais Montcalm.”
— Sylvie Roberge, general director of the Palais Montcalm
She also adds that Macias does not make this type of comment during his shows.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), there were 2,500 people at Place des Arts in Montreal and we found out: he did not make any political comments on the conflict,” she continues, noting that the Palais Montcalm is linked by a contractual agreement with the producer for the farewell tour of Enrico Macias.
Hailed by the UN
If Enrico Macias is today accused by some of advocating war, we must not forget that he was already considered an ambassador of peace.
In 1980, he received the title of “Singer of Peace” from United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim after paying UNICEF the royalties for his song. Woe to him who hurts a child.
He was then appointed in 1997 as a “Messenger of Peace” by the United Nations (UN).
“His music reflects his active commitment to human rights, peace and tolerance and draws attention to the plight of the world’s refugees,” we can still read on the United Nations website.
It is also recalled that Mr. Macias was born in Algeria and that he shared the pain of refugees who lost their country, their family and their friends, having himself left his country as a refugee to settle in France.
No comments
Neither the singer nor his management team called back The Sun in his file and the public relations team for his Quebec tour preferred not to comment.
Just like the promoter Patrick Lévy, who however briefly declared to the Soleil that he was aware of the letter that had been sent to the media by the Collective of Quebec for Peace.
