Nobody will express it better. Read on. Helen Freedman, Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI; 1751 Second Ave., New York, NY 10128; 917-886-0729; afsi@rcn; helenfreedman18@gmail; September 21/14 Letter to the Editor The NY Times Re: Met Opera It was a pleasant surprise to read your editorial on the Met’s stand on the “Death of Klinghoffer” opera. By writing your editorial, flawed and misinformed as it is, you brought attention to the controversy that has been swirling around this opera from the time it was first presented at BAM in 1991. At the time it caused an uproar because America was involved in Operation Desert Storm and audiences didn’t want to listen to lyrics glorifying Muslim terrorists. In 2001, right after 9/11, The Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled their scheduled performances of excerpts of the opera. It was considered inappropriate following on the heels of the Islamic terror group Al-Queda’s destruction of our Twin Towers along with the murder of close to 3,000 innocents. This summer, the Guggenheim Museum cancelled their planned program on the opera, recognizing that in the atmosphere of beheadings in Syria and Iraq, and Hamas bombardment of Israel with missiles, and using children as human shields, the climate might not be right for an opera that glorifies terrorism. This “widely praised opera” has been closed down time and again. The praise would undoubtedly come from other anti-Semites who enjoyed John Adams’ portrayal of Kissinger in “Nixon in China” and Oppenheimer in “Dr. Atomic.” Gelb surely recognizes that the opera could enflame passions in Europe and the Middle East because he agreed to cancel the HD movie performances that would have reached anti-Semites and anti-Americans throughout the world. Apparently he thinks the NY audience would have a more civilized response than pogroms and hate-filled demonstrations. When is the time right for a libretto that totally revises Israeli history in 1948, promoting the lie that Israel stole the land from the Arabs? What kind of historical revisionism is acceptable when the facts about Sabra and Shatila are deliberately distorted? By giving “voice to all sides” we hear the PLO terrorists singing about “America being one fat Jew”, and Jews as ‘exploiters’, ‘polluters’, and ‘defamers’. When the terrorists sing about themselves they “are men of ideals.” How is this acceptable? What acceptable “grievance” do these murderers have that would justify their cold-blooded execution of a wheel-chair bound American Jew? It would undoubtedly be the same “grievance” that led to the 9/11 attack and the beheadings of Daniel Pearl, Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, and hundreds or thousands of victims of ISIS. Your claim that the Met is being “true to its artistic mission” and the need to defend the “principle of artistic freedom” is totally unacceptable. Drawing a moral equivalence between executioners and their victims endangers America and all western countries. As the NYTimes did NOT report in the years before and during the Holocaust, it is important to remember the words of Pastor Niemoller. He wrote that no one spoke out when they came for the Socialists, the Trade Unionists, and the Jews. When they came for him, there was no one left to speak for him. The Times has acknowledged its failure during the Holocaust to speak for the six million Jews being exterminated by the Nazis. The Klinghoffer opera is the canary in the coal mine. It is time to speak out. The protest which you mention, taking place on Monday night, Sept. 22, the opening night of the Met’s season, was put together by a huge coalition of concerned citizens from all walks. They are enraged about the anti-American, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and pro-terrorist message of the opera. Plans for additional protests are in the making. Oct. 20, opening night of the Klinghoffer opera, 100 wheelchairs will be on the Lincoln Center Plaza, reminding attendees of the intolerable message of the opera. Additional protests will take place every night that the opera is performed, with various street theater actions taking place. People of conscience will not stand idly by the blood of their brothers. Helen Freedman Executive Director Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI afsi.org
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 12:18:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015