Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Opposing Terrorism and Jew Hatred At the Risk of Rejecting High Art



Opposing Terrorism and Jew Hatred At the Risk of Rejecting High Art

by Phyllis Chesler
September 23, 2014
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I am an avid opera-goer and opera-lover and it pains me beyond measure to have to approach the Metropolitan Opera, not with tickets in hand, but to participate in a protest against the choice of a particular opera, namely, "The Death of Klinghoffer."
Why-oh-why did Peter Gelb choose to produce this opera when the libretto is sub-standard, quite below par? This is quite apart from our collective concern about the content of this libretto and the lethal narrative of the opera itself. Yes, the work presents the Israelis as colonizers and exploiters, the Jews as greedy exploiters, and the Palestinian terrorists as heroes. And yes, I understand that Gelb believes that John Adams, the composer, is the leading American composer of the 21st century. The music is very good.
I am not sure where to focus my outrage and my sorrow.
On the opera itself, especially the libretto; on Gelb's decision to have it performed; by the ADL's Abe Foxman's deal with Gelb, namely, that Foxman would claim that the opera is not anti-Semitic and in return, Gelb would agree not to release the film version of the opera, world-wide; by the craven silence of the large American Jewish organizations--those who earn huge salaries, pensions, millionaire-level perks, and who are wedded to the Way Things Are, not the Way They Should Be.


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