UK: Jewish actors fear being ‘blacklisted’ for connection to Israel

Via Jewish Chronicle:

Jewish actors have told the JC that they are terrified of being “blacklisted” for having any connection to Israel and are hiding their identity in order to make sure they get work.

There is also deep concern that far from supporting its Jewish members, the actors’ union, Equity, is “fanning the flames of antisemitism”.

Dame Maureen Lipman this week resigned from the union in fury after it called on members to join Saturday’s pro-Palestinian march in London, at which protesters burned Israeli flags and held up antisemitic placards.

Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman — who also voiced her outrage over the Equity statement — said Jewish actors were beginning to hide their Stars of David at auditions.

“We are terrified of being thought of as Zionists,” she said. “One actor was turned on when it was found that they had family in Israel.

“Jewish actors are frightened of owning their identity, and they are scared that they will be blacklisted.”

One young actor told the JC: “It was the first day of a Zoom read-through for a possible new theatre show. We all introduced ourselves online, which is standard practice — who we are, where we are from, what we have been up to professionally.

When it was my turn, having had very little acting work due to the pandemic, I explained that I had been working on a treatment, hopefully for TV, based on my own family’s experience and history of fleeing pogroms in Russia.

“In front of the whole cast and director, an actor sneered on the screen and told me ‘look what you’re doing in Palestine. That’s a pogrom’.

“I felt sick. Like the two are somehow connected and I had to feel the weight of responsibility to defend myself against something that had nothing to do with me or my own family’s lived experience, that our own personal horrors were somehow being dismissed and diminished. The Chinese actor in the same cast was not made to feel the same fear in having to speak about the Uyghurs.

“So it’s hard not to feel unsafe as a Jewish actor — and it’s made me feel that I won’t be talking about my heritage or Jewish identity going forward.”

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UK: Labour politician sacked for tweeting actress's antisemitic conspiracy theory

Via Guardian:

Keir Starmer is facing a showdown with the left of Labour after his decisive sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey reignited the party’s internal turmoil over the issue of antisemitism.

In a swift move, Long-Bailey was summarily dismissed as shadow education secretary for sending an approving tweet about an interview in which the actor Maxine Peake said the US police tactic of kneeling on someone’s neck was taught by the Israeli secret service.

This was emphatically denied by Israel, and Peake later retracted the claim. By then, however, Long-Bailey had been fired.

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UK: The Office actor shares post saying 'rich Jews play the antisemitism card to protect themselves'

Via Jewish Chronicle:

An actor who starred in The Office shared a statement on social media that said "some rich Jews play the ‘anti-semitism’ card to protect themselves" in a discussion over Labour's disastrous election result.

Ewen MacIntosh, who played Keith Bishop in the iconic sitcom, posted a long statement that he attributed to “one of the wisest Jewish men I know” on Facebook response to Jewish comedian and writer Lee Kern.

The statement accuses Jews of "hyper-sensitivity" that "leads us to see ANY criticism of Jews" as racism, says "outrageous activities of The State of Israel towards the Palestinians" inspire antisemitism and claims "many Jews" are "rich" and therefore their "position is threatened" by Labour.

“One can see how certain people make the amalgam of ‘Jewish = Genocidal rich evil people who wish to rule the world’ and that 'some rich Jews play the ‘anti-semitism’ card to protect themselves' from Labour," the statement says.

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Portugal: Cartoonist blames ‘Jewish propaganda machine’ for condemnation of his drawing

Via Times of Israel:

Antonio Antunes denies his NY Times caricature of Netanyahu as a dog leading blind Trump is anti-Semitic, says it critiques Israel’s ‘criminal conduct in Palestine’

The Portuguese cartoonist behind the New York Times cartoon that depicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog has rejected charges of anti-Semitism, calling critics part of the “Jewish propaganda machine.”

Antonio Moreira Antunes, who draws for the Expresso newspaper published in Lisbon, told CNN Wednesday that Jews were not “above criticism.”

The calls of anti-Semitism were “made through the Jewish propaganda machine, which is, anytime there’s criticism it’s because there’s someone anti-Semitic on the other side, and that’s not the case,” Antunes told CNN.

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On Monday, Antunes said the cartoon was “a critique of Israeli policy, which has a criminal conduct in Palestine at the expense of the UN, and not the Jews,” Expresso reported.

“The Star of David is an aid to identify a figure [Netanyahu] that is not very well known in Portugal,” the cartoonist explained to Expresso.

He blamed right-wing figures saying: “The Jewish right doesn’t want to be criticized, and therefore, when criticized they say ‘We are a persecuted people, we suffered a lot… this is anti-Semitism.'”

Antunes claimed he was personally hurt by the Times’ statements of apology since publishing the caricature, saying the paper should have seen his work as “a political issue and not religious.”

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Iceland: Local Icon Makes Anti-Semitic Remarks Regarding Eurovision, Takes It Back And Apologises

Via Reykjavik Grapevine:

Musician and Eurovision enthusiast Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, who is currently pressing for Iceland to withdraw from Eurovision this year on account of it being held in Tel Aviv, made some decidedly anti-Semitic remarks on national broadcasting radio yesterday. Hours later, he posted a lengthy apology.

Thousands of Icelanders currently support boycotting Eurovision as it takes place in Israel this year; support for Eurovision, it is argued, expresses tacit support for the Israeli government’s policies regarding the Palestinian people. While Iceland ultimately decided to participate, the debate is far from over, and Páll Óskar has been amongst the most vocal supporters of a boycott.

However, when speaking with radio station Rás 1 yesterday, he made remarks regarding Jewish people as a whole that crossed the line from criticism of the Israeli government into more sweeping generalisations.

“The reason why the rest of Europe has been virtually silent is that Jews have woven themselves into the fabric of Europe in a very sly way for a very long time. It is not at all hip and cool to be pro-Palestine in Britain,” he said, saying at the interview’s conclusion: “The tragedy is that Jews learned nothing from the Holocaust. Instead, they have taken up the exact same policy of their worst enemy.”

The remarks were met with sharp criticism from many Icelanders, and hours later, Páll Óskar posted an apology and retraction.

“I admit unreservedly that I put the Israeli government, the Israeli military and the Jewish people under the same hat,” he wrote. “I made judgements and generalisations about Jewish people. … I take full responsibility for these words, take back my remarks about Jewish people, they are wrong and hurtful. I will take responsibility in actions, from this point forward, and will never again speak ill of the Jewish people, wherever in the world they may live.”

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Czech Republic: Jew portrayed as money-grubbing at city festival

Via Times of Israel:

A municipally organized street show in Prague celebrating Czech nationhood featured a skit apparently mocking an Orthodox Jew.

In the skit, police characters remove a man dressed like an Orthodox Jew for demanding money from the event’s host, who wears traditional Czech attire.

Sunday’s event was organized by the 3rd District of Prague.

The Jewish character was named Rozenkrants. “I will get this money from you one way or another,” the actor said, before another actor dressed as a police officer escorted him away. Hundreds of onlookers laughed.

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Germany: Ruhrtriennale festival reinvites BDS-supporters "Young Fathers" because they want to allow "different perspectives and narratives"

The British band "Young Fathers" was disinvited from the Ruhrtriennale festival after refusing to distance themselves from the "boycott, divestment and sanctions" movement, or BDS.  Now they've been reinvited, because the festival needs "to allow the different perspectives and narratives, because this openness is the dramaturgic credo of our programme."

The Ruhrtriennale festival's Artistic Director Stefanie Carp wrote as follows (via okayafrica):

Bochum, 21 June 2018 - The programme of the Ruhrtriennale is directed against racism, anti-Semitism and exclusion in every form and tells complex narratives. I consider it important to open up perspectives other than our Western ones, and thus to take the context of our international programme seriously. I do not wish to be part of a campaign, let alone hostage to a campaign.

The programme of the Ruhrtriennale and the artists of this programme are currently under pressure from two campaigns. One says: artists who support organisations that oppose the current policy of the government of the Israeli state and support the rights of the Palestinians are automatically anti-Semitic. The second campaign is the BDS campaign, which says that artists who do not boycott the current government of the State of Israel are automatically suspected of being racist or opponents of the Palestinians. I do not share any of the superficial, simplifying positions of these two campaigns. I wish to be able to invite a band such as the Young Fathers for their music and their lyrics although I personally completely reject the boycott strategy of the BDS. As a German, it is, of course, difficult for me to be linked to a movement that boycotts Israel, but I have invited the Young Fathers and not the BDS. In many interviews, the Young Fathers have made it credible that they reject anti-Semitism in any form. Following the impression of many discussions and reflections over the last few days, I would like to correct my approach: I wish to invite the Young Fathers again to the concert in Bochum on 18 August 2018 although I do not share their attitude to the BDS. I believe that we need to allow the different perspectives and narratives, because this openness is the dramaturgic credo of our programme. I therefore have to defend the freedom of the arts, and do not, under any circumstances, even indirectly, wish to exercise censorship.

I again wish to stress that, in my view, criticism of the current policy of the government of the State of Israel is not automatically anti-Semitic. None of the artists at this year's programme of the Ruhrtriennale are anti-Semitic or racist. I personally reject boycott in connection with Israel, but also in other contexts, and especially in the field of art. Artists do not represent nations or ideological discourses.

I do not, however, want artists to be censored, lectured or excluded for their attitudes. Every artist is free to take up a position as long as this position is not anti-Semitic, racist or exclusionary. I wish to initiate a public event on the topic of boycott, freedom of the arts and the differences of perspectives, the place, time and implementation of which we will announce. Perhaps such an event could be held in the context of the concert, and the band could preferably represent its own position there.

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Norway: Rapper curses ‘the f***ing Jews’ at diversity concert

Via Times of Israel:

A Norwegian rapper hired by the City of Oslo to sing at an event intended to celebrate diversity cursed “the f***ing Jews” during his performance.

In response to the profane statement Friday by Kaveh Kholardi, the leader of the country’s Jewish community has threatened to take legal action against the 23-year-old performer.

Kholardi wished Muslims “Eid Mubarak,” a greeting in Arabic for the Eid al-Fitr holiday that on Friday marked the end of Ramadan, Dagen reported. He went on to ask if there were Christians present, smiling upon hearing cheers. Then he asked if there were any Jews, adding “f***ing Jews… Just kidding.”

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Germany: Anti-Semitism In Rap, A Loaded Question

Via World Crunch:

Artists are now using anti-Semitism and Islamism to shock, and that’s not surprising. But if both listeners and rappers started to finally take music seriously, this could change.

Since Germany's top music prize, the Echo awards, honored the rappers Kollegah and Farid Bang, there has been a misunderstanding that both sides of the debate have somehow agreed upon: that anti-Semitism is part of hip-hop culture. Some intend it as criticism; others want to defend the two rappers. But no matter how you mean it, it’s bullshit. Too many who are now talking and writing about the issue have no idea what rap is, to begin with.

In German rap, anti-Semitic content became visible only with the rise of rappers such as Bushido and Haftbefehl, around ten years ago. Kool Savaş, who started in the 1990s and is a pioneer of battle-rap in Germany, raps transphobic, homophobic and misogynist lyrics, but has never used anti-Semitic words. One might ask why so few have been upset about his words. But one thing is certain: The claim that anti-Semitism is part of rap is simply not true. This trend is relatively new.

It was born and grew because rap was a relatively unnoticed genre for a long time. In Germany, it was also considered to be the music of the lower classes and adolescents. This lack of interest from the public allowed the formation of a semi-criminal parallel community with its own "code of honor" — or at least one that pretends to be criminal, because that belongs to the bad boy image and offers street credibility. Much of it was and is only for show.

...

The neo-gangsters from Frankfurt and North Rhine-Westphalia have managed in recent years to again make woman the object of their degrading lyrics. The arguments that one hears defending misogynist rappers are now used to brush aside allegations of anti-Semitism: First, rap only depicts society; secondly, only the musical ego is speaking here, not the private person. Both arguments fail to take rap seriously enough and underestimate its influence.

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Germany: Rappers who call for “another Holocaust” win top music award

Via Jewish News:

A German-Jewish leader condemned a music award given to two popular rappers as a “devastating” example of the normalcy of anti-Semitism in today’s society.

Kollegah and Bang won the top Echo Music Award in the hip-hop category for an album whose lyrics boast of physiques “more defined that those of Auschwitz inmates” and call for “another Holocaust; let’s grab the Molotov” cocktails.

Charlotte Knobloch, head of the Jewish community of Munich and Bavaria, was one of numerous public figures in Germany who criticised the award. The ceremony took place in Berlin on 12 April, which also was the annual Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day.

The album, whose title in English is  “Young, Brutal, Good Looking 3,” won the best of Hip-Hop/Urban, National award.

(...)

When Focus magazine asked the artists how they viewed the criticism, they responded by joking about their failure to work out before the ceremony.

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Netherlands: Major poet was a Nazi supporter and antisemite

Via Bad News From the Netherlands blog, AD and Trouw (in Dutch)

Lucebert (1987)

Recently the literature expert Wim Hazeu has discovered that one of the most famous post-war Dutch poets Lucebert was a volunteer worker in the German weapons industry. He also wrote letters with an antisemitic content, such as: “Only when all Germanic tribes are united, the Jew will no longer have the opportunity to incite blood against similar blood.” He signed letters with “Sieg Heil” and “Heil Hitler”.  

He has always denied his Nazi past and received major Dutch literary awards. 

Germany: TV pulls the plug on Roger Waters concert due to antisemitism

Via The Jerusalem Post (Benjamin Weinthal):

The German public television outlet WDR canceled its slated cooperation concert with the former Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters on Saturday because of a wave of protest against the singer’s anti-Jewish views.

Malca Goldstein-Wolf launched a petition campaign to prevent WDR from using taxpayer money to fund a “Jew-hater.”

She said the chairman of the Cologne-based TV outlet Tom Buhrow is allowing the spread of antisemitism by televising Waters, who is an energetic supporter of the BDS campaign, which targets Israel and has used antisemitic imagery at his concerts.

Buhrow responded in a Facebook post to Goldstein-Wolf on Saturday, writing “I sense that not many words and arguments will convince you, rather only clear action. The cooperation with the concert was ended.”

Goldstein-Wolf’s online petition titled “No support for the antisemite Roger Walters with public funds of the WDR” garnered nearly 1,400 signatures.

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UK: Bucking liberal opinion, some British rockers reject anti-Israel boycotts

Via City Journal (Seth Barron): 

Nick Cave, the brooding Australian poet and original Goth rocker, performed in Tel Aviv this week in what he described as active opposition to the campaign to boycott Israel. Calls to join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel annoyed Cave, who saw it as a crusade to “censor and silence musicians.” Not signing the boycott wasn’t enough, he decided; he wanted to play an Israeli venue, to spite the boycott’s self-righteous, politically correct organizers. “So really,” explained Cave, “you could say in a way that the BDS made me play Israel.”

The same week that Cave thumbed his nose at prominent anti-Israel campaigners Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) and avant-garde producer Brian Eno (of Roxy Music), famed misanthropic emo-rock idol Morrissey told a German journalist that he “loves” Tel Aviv. Calling the boycott “absurd and narrow-minded,” Morrissey added that “being politically correct is incorrect. . . . It means forbidding freedom of speech. That’s how the BDS movement sounds to me.” The last track, "Israel," on Morrissey’s new album, is an anthem to identity and difference in the face of hatred. “In other climes they bitch and whine/Just because you’re not like them/Israel, Israel” croons Morrissey. “The sky is dark for many others/They want it dark for you as well/Israel, Israel,” he sings, skewering the hypocrisy of BDS campaigners who focus on every Israeli fault while ignoring the Middle East’s massive human rights abuses. (...)

Though it might seem as if Morrissey is just being provocative, his rebuff of BDS meshes with his pro-Brexit advocacy for regional European identities. Both these tendencies are congruent with the oppositional roots of rock ‘n’ roll, and punk rock in particular—especially in England. John Lydon—known formerly as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols—sneered at BDS and its bien-pensant supporters a few years ago, remarking, “if Elvis-fucking-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he’s suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him.” Lydon continued, “I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won’t understand how anyone can have a problem with how they’re treated.” (...)

The rock-inspired punk ethos has always been two-fingers-up to established authority, and especially to party lines that demand adherence to a set of orthodoxies. British musicians’ anti-BDS sentiments don’t necessarily suggest that they favor Israeli settlement policy or that they urge a hard line against Hamas, but rather an appreciation for the predicament of a small country, with much of the world against it, soldiering on anyway—and up yours if you don’t like it. And in a supposedly post-national era, Israel’s definition of itself as the Jewish State might also hold appeal for these aging rockers, who remember a prouder, more happily British Britain.

As Ringo Starr put it, commenting on Brexit: “I think it’s a great move, you know, to be in control of your country is a good move.”

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Ukraine: Odessa celebrates Bob Dylan's Jewish roots this weekend

Via Jewish Telegraphic Agency: 

Bob Dylan

Some 950 people are expected to gather over this weekend for Limmud FSU Ukraine, the biggest event geared towards the Jewish community in the country. The event will take place in Odessa, one of the most important cities of Jewish and Zionist movement’s history in the former Soviet Union. Today there are about 400,000 Jews living in Ukraine, with more than 45,000 in Odessa. 

Limmud FSU Ukraine, the dynamic and pluralistic Jewish festival of culture, creativity and learning, will feature an array of more than 180 world-class speakers from around the world on a multitude of subjects ranging from art, to Jewish culture and tradition, literature, music, theater, history, politics, business and lifestyle.

The event will feature a special ceremony and a concert celebrating Bob Dylan, one of the most prominent Jewish composers and musicians of our time. Dylan’s paternal mother, Anna Zimmerman, together with her husband Zigman, emigrated from Odessa to the US in 1910. The event will also include an exhibition on Dylan’s life “Forever young: behind Dylan's revolution and legacy”, created by the Museum of Diaspora in Tel Aviv, and presented by one of its curators, Amitai Achiman.

Special recognition will be given to the 120th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress of 1897, to be celebrated this year, including a concert and several activities relating to the World Zionist Organization, with the participation of WZO Chair, Avraham Duvdevani. A commemorative plaque will be unveiled on the house where the distinguished Hebrew poet, Shaul Tchernichovsky, lived, in the framework of an official ceremony made possible by the efforts of Nativ and WZO.

“The Ukrainian-Jewish community is among the most thriving Jewish communities in the world, while the city of Odessa is one of the most important cities in Jewish history. We confidently expect that this Limmud FSU 11th festival in Ukraine will be an important part in the life of the Jewish community,” said founder Chaim Chesler, “and we look forward to an inspiring gathering, especially the celebration of Bob Dylan’s Jewish roots in Odessa.”

Among the presenters will be Israel's ambassador to Ukraine Eliav Belotserkovsky; Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG) Vice-President for External Relations and former Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Dorit Golender; Executive Director  of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Haim Ben Yakov; Nativ's countrty director for Ukraine Gennady Polischuk; Director of The Ukrainian Institute for the Study of the Holocaust Tkuma, Igor Shchupak; Board Member of Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter Adrian Karatnycky, popular Russian satirist and writer, Victor Shenderovich, and many more.

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France: Cities shut out hate speech comedian Dieudonné

As stated in an article by Guy Millière published on the Gatestone Institute: "Dieudonné, in a video posted on YouTube, and widely seen before being removed, expressed a longing to bring back the gas chambers in which the Nazis gassed the Jews. Everything he posts goes viral."

Via The Jerusalem Post:

Notorious French comedian Dieudonné, convicted of hate speech and condoning terrorism, will need to make alternative arrangements for his upcoming War tour after the mayors of Marseille and Grenoble barred his performances. 

The mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, announced Wednesday that his city will no longer permit Dieudonné to perform at its largest municipality-affiliated venue, the Dome, in November on grounds of public safety.  

The Marseille mayor reached the decision following pressure from Jewish groups and local media to withdraw permission for the performance. 

Dieudonné, whose full name is Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, has a long list of convictions for antisemitism, inciting racial hatred, condoning terrorism and tax evasion in both French and Belgian courts. His shows often draw large, animated protests. 

Dieudonné is also known for his trademark "quenelle" gesture, an inverted Nazi salute which he insists is solely antiestablishment, and his offensive Holocaust-themed jokes. 

"A multicultural city such as Marseille cannot permit a show which is based on divisive and factious humor... and which is likely to lead to public disorder," said Gaudin in a statement. (...) 

In 2009 and 2011, the Grenoble municipality also issued orders banning Dieudonné from performing in the town. On both occasions, however, the decision was overturned by an administrative tribunal. 

Dieudonné responded to the ban on his official Twitter account Thursday saying: "I will indeed be in Grenoble and Marseille, despite what the media say." 

In May 2016, Dieudonné was banned from entering Canada after being convicted of breaking hate speech laws. In February 2014, the British government barred the comedian from entering Britain, issuing an "exclusion order" due to his prior convictions.  

Hong Kong also refused him entry, stating that it was "committed to upholding effective immigration control by denying the entry of undesirables." 

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Greece: Two-faced Greek artists

Via Against Antisemitism:

I read that well-known Israeli singer Jasmine Levy has invited Greek singer Yiannis Kotsiras for a series of three concerts in Israel on 25, 26 and 28 October this year. So far so good. 

The wheels start coming off the wagon, when you realize that Kotsiras is not exactly what could be called pro-Israeli. On the contrary. Taking under consideration his behavior on the 25 November 2015 I would classify him as anti-Israeli. 

At the time Mr Kotsiras along singer with Eleni Tsaligopoulou were invited to appear at a concert organized by the Israeli embassy in Greece along with Israeli singer Idan Raichel. 

A few hours before the opening of the concert the two Greek artists canceled their appearance. Exactly why they canceled was never explained, officially at least, since no announcement was made by the two singers. (...)

But the subject of this article is not Kotsiras or Tsaligopoulou, not even their unprofessional conduct of canceling their appearance a few hour before the curtain went up. As a matter of fact, their conduct should concern any music hall that would want to hire them in the future. 

My subject is the two-faced Greek artists. 

They are all willing to perform in Israeli and see their bank accounts get bigger and bigger, but they are very unwilling to say anything good about Israel once they return. On the contrary, they are more than willing to participate in any anti-Israeli activity be that a rally, a performance, or a mass protest against the “murderous state” Somebody must remind them of the saying “you cannot serve two masters”

Then same behavior can be found, by other artists as well, to name a few. Mikis Theodorakis (composer of Zorba the Greek), play writer Jacob Kampanelis (writer of the Ballad of Mauthausen) who declared publicly that he will never allow his work to be performed in Israel, until of course a few years  later he heard the figure involved and agreed. 

Not to mention Stelios Kazantzidis who appearing in a Greek court and later also on TV said “only I and Arafat are fighting the Jews” 

Should I remind you of George Dallaras that so angered the Israeli public by his standard appearance in so many anti-Israeli concerts that they started breaking his records in public. 

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United Kingdom: British theatre’s disturbing bias against Israel

Via Standpoint (David Herman):

This month two very different plays open in London. They raise disturbing questions about British theatre’s bias against Israel.  

On September 29 (coincidentally the night of Kol Nidre) a revival of the anti-Israel play, My Name is Rachel Corrie, opens at the Young Vic. First performed at the Royal Court in 2005, it tells the story of Corrie, a young American activist working for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who was killed trying to block an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip in 2003.    

(...) The Times argued that “an element of unvarnished propaganda comes to the fore. With no attempt made to set the violence in context, we are left with the impression of unarmed civilians being crushed by faceless militarists.” 

This month’s revival has been condemned by Jewish organisations who have called the play “unapologetically anti-Israel” and “an opportunity to fan the flames of hatred”.  

More disturbing, however, is the larger picture of anti-Israel bias in British theatre. Over the past 20 years there have been a number of plays attacking Israel: My Name is Rachel Corrie, Alive from Palestine: Stories Under the Occupation, one of David Lan’s (*) first productions at the Young Vic in 2002, David Hare’s Via Dolorosa and Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza (both at the Royal Court). In 2014 the Tricycle Theatre refused to host the UK Jewish Film Festival because it received funding from the Israeli embassy. The Tricycle was supported by Nicholas Hytner, then director of the National Theatre. In addition, Harold Pinter, Michael Kustow and Arnold Wesker all became vocal critics of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Along with Churchill and Hare, these were major figures in British theatre and the Court; the Young Vic and the Tricycle are prominent theatres. At Edinburgh this summer, Jackie Walker, a left-wing activist suspended from Labour over accusations of anti-Semitism, had a one-woman show, The Lynching, which included predictable attacks on Israel. A banner draped in front of the audience read: “Anti-Semitism is a crime. Anti-Zionism is a duty.”  

Where are the pro-Israel plays? More important, where are British plays which treat this conflict in an even-handed way or which create interesting Israeli characters? 

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(*) The Jewish Chronicle writes: 

But David Lan, the theatre’s artistic director, who is Jewish, told the JC: “Gaza is a wound to the planet from which so many people are suffering.  “We welcome and hope to encourage as wide a discussion of this terrible situation as possible. Anything that keeps Gaza at the front of our consciousness is to be valued.”  (...)  Ivan Lewis, the Jewish MP and former Middle East Minister, is on the Young Vic’s Board of Trustees. He did not respond to a request for a comment.

UK/Denmark: Barbican accused of showing antisemitic film in science fiction season

Via Guardian:

The head of the UK’s main Jewish organisation has accused London’s Barbican arts centre of showing an antisemitic film, which she claims is “blatant propaganda about the Israel-Palestine conflict” masquerading as science fiction.

Gillian Merron, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies, an umbrella organisation representing British Jews, called on the London arts centre to remove the film In the Future They Ate from the Finest Porcelain from the exhibition Into the Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction.

The film by a Palestinian artist, Larissa Sansour, and a Danish author, Søren Lind, which combines live action, computer-generated imagery and historical photographs, is described in the exhibition as telling “the story of a fictional ‘narrative resistance’ group which attempts to implant the existence of a fictional civilisation in history by burying fragments of pottery in the ground”.

In a letter to Sandeep Dwesar, the chief operating and financial officer of the Barbican, Merron wrote: “While the Barbican synopsis casts the film as a sci-fi feature about fictitious technologically advanced aliens who land in an area to implant a ‘false history’, I understand that the film is clearly filmed in Israel and that the dialogue is in Arabic and purports to show the ‘aliens’ seeding the land with porcelain in an effort to create the ‘false’ impression that they have a historical connection to it.
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Requesting its removal from the exhibition, Merron said: “It is therefore not much of a stretch to suggest that the film is a means by which to deny the historical Jewish connection to Israel and an exercise in delegitimisation. Accusing Jews of falsifying our connection to Israel smacks of antisemitism and is of grave concern.”

In reply, Dwesar said: “The short film has been programmed for its poetical vision before anything else. ... Having spoken to the curator and the artists, the intention is that the symbolic visual language in the film speaks of history and tradition, yet it cannot necessarily be placed in any distinct or quantifiable time period.”

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Portugal: Over 40 photographers launch Israel boycott pledge

While Portugal, one of the poorest countries in W. Europe, is literally burning - since January, 11,537 fire incidents have been recorded, causing the destruction of 166 thousand hectares of forest, 48 thousand more hectares burned than in the same period of last year, much poverty and loss of life), some Portuguese are busy boycotting  and defaming Israel. Huge forest fires in Portugal kill at least 60 and Portugal Forest Fires Worsen, Fed by Poor Choices and Inaction.

Via AURDIP:

On World Photography Day, over 40 Portuguese photographers, teachers of photography and photography students have launched a pledge not to accept professional invitations or financing from the State of Israel and to refuse to collaborate with Israeli cultural institutions complicit in Israel’s regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid. 

The pledge is the first of its kind (...) The photographers pledge to boycott Israel until it“complies with international law and respects the human rights of Palestinians.”

Among the pledge supporters are João Pina, winner of the 2017 Prémio Estação Imagem Viana do Castelo, Portugal’s only photojournalism award and Nuno Lobito, TV personality and one of the most travelled Portuguese of all times (204 countries, 193 recognised). (...) 

Miguel Carriço, winner of the 2012 Concelho da Bienal de Vila Franca de Xira award, urged fellow photographers to join the call : 

“Having witnessed first-hand the crimes Israel is committing daily against Palestinians, signing up to this initiative has become a natural step. It is fundamental to promote this effort through all means possible.”

(...) Traveller-photographer Nuno Lobito said : 

“It is time for Israel’s brand of apartheid to enjoy the same treatment as South African apartheid and be target of a comprehensive internacional boycott until it respects human rights. Photographers can no longer be silent about the treatment of their Palestinian colleagues living under an indefensible occupation that has lasted for over half a century. Palestinians have called for solidarity through boycotts and this pledge is our practical contribution to their struggle.” 

Signatory José Soudo, a veteran Photography teacher and Historian, commented : 

“The history of photography is full of examples, from the 19th century to today, of photographers who gave their sight to the service of the oppressed and destitute.”

For João Henriques, winner of the 2015 Fnac New Talents Award, “to participate in this solidarity initiative for Palestine is to believe in the power of photography to provide testimony, to create conscience and to have empathy for the Other.”

The full list of signatories has not been published.

German Jews irate over art comparing Holocaust ("Auschwitz" and "Zyklon B") and immigrant crisis

The trivialization of the Holocaust has become a common form of protest in Europe.  French-speakers call it the "banalization" of the Holocaust - it now serves to criticize anyone you don't agree with and to affirm your (the accuser's) moral superiority.

Via Israel Hayom (Eldad Beck):

A planned performance art installation titled "Auschwitz on the Beach" has sparked the ire of the German Jewish community for comparing Europe's current immigration crisis to the Holocaust.  

 The installation will begin on August 24 in the German city of Kassel as part of the Documenta 14 exhibit, an international modern art exhibition considered one of the most important in the world. The performance installation will be presented by Italian and Brazilian artists and is based in a poem written by the Italian Marxist philosopher Franco "Bifo" Berardi, a known radical leftist. (...)  

According to Berardi's explanation of the performance, which will be presented in English on Thursday and Saturday and in Italian on Friday, "Europeans are building concentration camps on their own territory, and are paying their Gauleiter [the ruler of a Nazi province] of Turkey, Libya, and Egypt to do the dirty work on the coast of the Mediterranean where saltwater has replaced Zyklon B." 

"Extermination is the word accurately defining the sentiment and behavior of the majority of the European people and the political action of the European governments," Berardi claims. "Rather than facing our historical responsibility," he warns, "we reject people who are trying to escape misery and wars and unchain themselves from our colonization. We made crossing the sea from North Africa to the southern European coasts perilous. By making migration illegal we have put migrants who asked for our help in the hands of criminal traffickers. We are drowning countless children, women, and men on a daily basis." (...)  

Leaders in the German Jewish community say the exhibit harms the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and relativizes Nazi war crimes. Charlotte Knobloch, former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and a Holocaust survivor, called the exhibit "grotesque" and demanded its performance be prevented. Ilana Katz, a Jewish community leader, described the exhibit as "tasteless and hurtful" to the victims of the Holocaust. She condemned the use of the terms "Auschwitz" and "Zyklon B" as part of an artistic and political event and called on visitors to the exhibit to take a stand. "The issue of remembering the Holocaust and the terms associated with it, and how we pass this inconceivable crime to future generations, affects all of us," she said.

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