“My Name is Rachel Corrie” has been cancelled in Canada. No surprises as to why:
Jack Rose, from the CanStage board — while admitting he has neither read nor seen the script — said that “my view was it would provoke a negative reaction in the Jewish community.”
And philanthropist Bluma Appel, after whom CanStage’s flagship theater is named, concurred. “I told them I would react very badly to a play that was offensive to Jews.”
I saw the play in New York — where it had been moved from the original theater it was scheduled to play to the Mineta Lane Theater — and don’t see what was deemed offensive about it aside from that it brings attention to the plight of Palestinians and the murder of a pro-Palestinian activist.
But of course the power of the “lobby” is a figment of anti-Semitic imaginations.
And I suppose Muslim’s who were offended by the Muhammad cartoons controversy are an undifferentiated mass of seething fanatics as well. One can criticize the cancellation of the show without invoking this spectre of an all powerful Jewish lobby, and one would be a bit more credible for doing so.
This is the insidiously evil philanthropist who objected to the staging of the Rachel Corrie Play:
Bluma Appel
Bluma Appel is a Canadian philanthropist and patron of the arts.
Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, she is the founder of CanFAR, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research.
The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research is a Canadian charitable foundation whose goal is to raise awareness of AIDS/HIV to increase funds for research. CANFAR is currently the only such organization in Canada.
You’re right, al-Himyari. The cancellation of the play probably didn’t have anything to do with Corrie being a critic of Israel. When Appel said the play was “offensive to Jews,” it was because she knew that Corrie was blonde and – as it well-known – Jews are offended by blonde people. We must respect the Jewish fear of blondes and be culturally sensitive to it. Staging plays with central characters who are blonde, I now realize, is incitement to a clash of civilizations.
Issandr – Lol!
It is possible to directly email CanStage and express your disappointment in their decision and I suggest you do so.
I find it sad that we must capitalize on the death one white girl from America to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinian people.
I am objecting to your implied acceptance of the Mearsheimer/Walt definition of the “Israel Lobby,” to include all influential Jews who support and defend Israel’s conduct. From your perch this may appear like a coordinated “lobby” (read: conspiracy), but I object to that formulation, saying nothing of the contents of the play or its right to be performed. Personally, I think it should be performed, but don’t really have any particular sympathy for Rachel Corrie beyond that appropriate on the occassion of a death.
It’s interesting how quickly these discussions turn from the plight of Palestinians and how Isreal is the only one who can stop the terror, to whether or not there is a “lobby” and whether or not you can clump all Jews into it, or how someone who tries to cover for Isreal doesn’t deserve to be criticized because they also do good things. From what I remember, Rachel was cut in half by a bulldozer driven by an Isreali soldier. The only reason I know is because I read a little on line. Others might know, if only the story was told.
Look, its bad that the play is being cancelled and its wrong. Do we have to see it as an instance of a jewish conspiracy? I’m a jew and I’d like to see the play. I would urge the playwrights and the actors to take a leaf from history (and the jews) and do what the actors of “And the Cradle Will Rock” did–walk down the street and perform the play in another venue for anyone who can come. “The jews” or rather *a single high level patron of the arts who has a different political opinion* can’t stop that performance. Information wants to be free and performances will be seen.
I’m sick of what is happening in Israel and in Palestine, I’d like to see the play and I don’t think it should be stopped from being seen/shown for any reason. But please lets not pretend that a play showing the brutal shooting deaths of the three palestinian children by infighting between hamas and etc… would not also be stopped (if it could be) if there were such a thing as a wealthy hamas philanthropist who didn’t want the name of his party sullied by the true facts of what iit has and is doing to its own people. If that were the case I wouldn’t accuse “muslims” or “the muslim lobby” of being at fault. I’d let the blame lie where it belongs–at the feet of one or two individuals.
aimai
http://gaelicstarover.blogspot.com/2006/12/rachels-voice-silenced-again.html“ rel=”nofollow”>http://gaelicstarover.blogspot.com/2006/12/rachels-voice-silenced-again.html
I saw the play last week.
There is nothing in the play that can be construed as “anti-Semitic�. The play is based on Rachel’s own words, from her journals, poems and e-mails.
At one point, she explicitly expresses sensitivity to the history and concerns of the Jewish people and her own sense of awkwardness given that she wasn’t Jewish and yet so involved in the region.
Ragarding threats to “Israel’s existence”, Rachel points out that Israel possesses the fourth largest military force in the world.
The play is offensive to Jews because it tells the truth.
Israel murders civilians, using illegal munitions it gets from the US.
Not everyone who is Jewish agrees with what Israel does.
“I find it sad that we must capitalize on the death one white girl from America to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinian people.”
Sad, but true. And if the play was shown as it should be, more people would understand the Truth of the actions of Israel against Palestinians. And more jews, as well as everyone else, would take a stronger stance against the Israeli Apartheid.
Bluma Appel may be a staunch humanitarian when it comes to AIDS, but on the side of decency in the case of Israel, Bluma has chosen to defend the side of those who slew Rachel Corrie. Maybe if Palestine had an AIDS outbreak, Bluma would show more consideration.
But then again, maybe not.
Somehow I feel that most Jews under the age of 35 are against attempts to prevent this play from showing.
Defenders of the conservative government of Israel does not a Jewish conspiracy make, but it is a powerful lobbying force. And opposing said lobby is not anti-Semitic, it is a political position against a right wing organisation. So to conflate the Corrie play into an offence to Jews is to play that lobbies game of calling all dissent a bigoted act, thus avoiding actual open debate about the activities of the current government of Israel. It is intellectually dishonest and Bluma Appel doesn’t strike me as a stupid person, so shame on her. As for putting the play on down the street or wherever, theatre is a business and denying staging does destroy a plays reach and damages future chances of it being performed. It is blatantly political censorship and no civilized person should engage in it.
Consider,
It is not a conspiracy per se, It is simply that citizens have been conditioned to believe a certain point of view about Israel and experience cognitive dissonance when a contrary view is proposed. It happens in this case that acknowledging Israel’s history of state-sponsored terrorism is very dissonant to some.
on hegemony:
Hegemony
In Europe and North America the power of the ruling elites seldom appears in its rawest forms. The media play a key role in communicating and creating legitimacy for those in power. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist writing while imprisoned in the 1920s and 30s, developed a useful concept for describing this situation. He called it hegemony. Hegemony is achieved when the power of the dominant groups in a society appears natural. It is a form of power or rule not limited to direct political control but one where those who have power maintain their position through the creation of a particular world view, one that seems to be based on common sense. Newspapers, TV and radio can be used to communicate the viewpoint of the ruling elites.
This becomes most obvious in times of crisis, such as the Iraq war in 2003, where a closing of the ranks and a shutting down of critical, oppositional, even skeptical views becomes painfully clear. Even the widely praised BBC, which to North American viewers, appeared more distant than other media from Tony Blair’s war emerged with a generally compliant position, what one journalist referred to as BBC – ‘Basically Biased Coverage’. But hegemony doesn’t confine itself to intellectual matters or ideas. It works within everyday culture and seems to provide a frame for understanding experience.
Even in quieter times the media play a leading role in maintaining the status quo, defining the boundaries of political debate and the economic orthodoxy of neoliberalism. Most empirical studies reveal a significant overlap of media owners and managers with the political elite. Thus they are not really doing someone else’s bidding – they’re just looking out for family.
medicis
Oh, and excuse me, I was quoting from the Third World Traveler….
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/
Interesting point there about hegemony Medicis.
This play is offenseive, yet 30 years ago, Hair, with nude actors onstage, played regardless of who it offended.
This is censorship at its finest and it has no place in the U.S. or Canada. If you’ll be offended – don’t buy tickets, but don’t deny the rest of us the right to broaden our horizons
To clarify – I don’t think the play is offensive, it was more like a quote “this play is offensive” – like what is so offensive about it. The truth hurts, but the truth will set you free.