Theodore Bikel, an icon of theater and music and a revered figure in the Jewish community, wrote an op-ed in today's Washington Post, speaking out against censorship of plays and discussions on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
The Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center has a theater, Theater J, which is widely respected both for the quality of its work and for creativity and openness in its offerings. In addition, working with a local Muslim leader Andy Shallal (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/...), Theater J's director, Ari Roth has held a Peace Cafe since 2000:
a venue providing an opportunity for Arabs and Jews and all those interested in a just peace to sit side by side and begin to create layers of understanding onto which a foundation for true peace can be built.
http://www.springerlink.com/...
But Theater J's peace and discussion initiatives have been threatened by a pressure group seeking to "curb" financing for Theater J, because of their displeasure with a play performed at Theater J.
The play, Return to Haifa, was adapted by an Israeli playwright from a Palestinian novella.
A notable element of the play was its attempt to dramatize the exile stories of Jews and Palestinians as somehow being intertwined, a dimension that some observers thought had struck a conciliatory cord.
This play was performed at Theater J by Israel's most renowned company, the Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv and had previously been performed in Tel Aviv. Yet the group opposing it listed it as an example of works that "demonize Israel and the Jewish People."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Because of pressure from this group, the Peace Cafes at Theater J were ended (although Mr. Shallal continues them at his own restaurant). And there has been grave concern that Theater J's director would not be allowed to continue his courageous and creative work (which, btw, has been wildly popular with the Jewish community in the area).
But now Theodore Bikel has spoken out about what is happening to Theater J. In an op-ed entitled "Art should be debated, not silenced," Mr. Bikel writes that efforts to prevent controversial offerings in art and literature
are least acceptable when they are undertaken by Jews and directed at other Jews. More than any other of the Western traditions, our Jewish ethos not only permits but demands that we question everything, even tradition itself.
He criticizes the pressure group that is trying to block performance of such plays, saying that it
falls into the trap of conflating the state of Israel with the occupied territories. Those who criticize Israel as an occupier are labeled not as critics but as enemies of Israel. Among those who believe, as this writer does, that Israel's presence in the territories is the single greatest obstacle to peace, we find [Israeli] luminaries of literature and theater...
And he ends with the following:
Debate what you don't like. Mount counter-arguments in print, in song or on stage. But do not silence voices.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
In one of my comments on my daughter's diaries from Israel/Palestine, I said that a central tenet of Judaism I was raised with was "two Jews, three arguments." Theodore Bikel expresses that, of course, much better. Theater J's presentation and discussion of differing views and feelings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a wonderful expression of that philosophy and our family hopes that it will be able to continue on this fascinating, creative and constructive path.
Mr. Bikel, an American citizen, was born in Austria in 1924, fled to Palestine when the Nazis occupied Austria, spent his teen-aged years there and co-founded the Cameri theater in Tel Aviv, and spent most of his life in the U.S. He is famous for many things, but perhaps most for his performance in the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. But he has had a stellar career in both theater and in human rights. (and he was a co-founder of the Newport Folk Festival!).