Comments on: An Open Letter to Melissa Parke http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1176 An Orthodox Voice for the Perth Jewish Community. Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:52:44 +1000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Steve Lieblich http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1176&cpage=1#comment-14525 Steve Lieblich Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:22:10 +0000 http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1176#comment-14525 Kulcha and Amnesty International were quite right to cancel the staging of the offensive play “Seven Jewish Children”. Quite simply, Caryl Churchill’s play should never be aired in decent society as anything other than an example of incitement to hatred, and a form of “literature” that violates any sense of respect for others. Rather than fostering, developing and promoting co-existence and harmony, it is a concocted fiction that incites unwarranted revulsion of Jews. The play evokes the most notorious and repugnant anti-Semitic fiction, which was often used to whip up violent pogroms in Eastern Europe: the “blood libel” that accused Jews of murdering non-Jewish children for their blood. This libel motivated the most horrific massacres over centuries. Many members of our community here in Perth, including my wife, have ancestors who fled Russia from the late 1800s, to escape these hysterical and false accusations, and the violence that ensued from the libel. Caryl Churchill’s portrayal of Jews as monstrous child-killers and ‘better haters’ because they are the ‘chosen people’ is straight out of the hallucinatory lexicons of medieval Jew-hatred. It is an open vilification of the Jewish people, not merely repeatedly perpetrating incendiary lies about Israel but demonstrably and openly promoting anti-Semitism. On the one hand the portrayal of Jewish parents as if they incite hatred of Arabs is a baseless fiction that cannot be sustained by the facts. On the other hand, there are countless actual real-life, documented examples of Arab sermons, TV programmes and school textbooks that incite hatred, violence and suicide “martyrdom”. If Caryl Churchill’s play were a serious attempt to provoke rational analysis and debate about the Israel-Arab conflict, it wouldn’t be so patently biased: ignoring obvious facts on one side while conjuring up libellous fictions to denigrate the other. I’d like to stress that I don’t seek to silence criticism of Israel. Constructive criticism is the hallmark of a free society. I welcome interest and debate about Israel and the Middle East that is rational, constructive and promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. However this play crosses all boundaries that separate rational, valid criticism from anti-Semitism. Natan Sharansky, the famous Soviet dissident devised a “3D” test to distinguish valid criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism. If it fails any one of these three tests, it fails as valid criticism. Firstly, does it demonize Jews, as anti-Semites have done for centuries? Comparisons of Israelis to Nazis and of the Palestinian refugee camps to Auschwitz can only be considered anti-Semitic. Those who draw such analogies either do not know anything about Nazi Germany or are deliberately trying to portray Jews as the embodiment of evil. Secondly does it apply a double standard? It is blatant anti-Semitism, for instance, when Israel is singled out (for example, by the United Nations and misguided humanitarian organisations) for human rights abuses while at the same time paying comparatively little attention to obvious and chronic abusers like China, Iran, Cuba, Syria and many Arab nations. Thirdly does it delegitimize the very existence of the nation of Israel? While criticism of an Israeli policy may not be anti-Semitic, the denial of Israel's right to exist is always anti-Semitic. If other peoples have a right to live securely in their homelands, then the Jewish people have a right to live securely in their homeland. “Seven Jewish Children” fails Sharansky’s 3D test on all counts. It is a partisan, hateful attack on only one side of a terrible conflict. It contributes nothing to its resolution, but instead exacerbates it and imports the animosities to our local community. Kulcha and Amnesty International were quite right to cancel the staging of the offensive play “Seven Jewish Children”. Quite simply, Caryl Churchill’s play should never be aired in decent society as anything other than an example of incitement to hatred, and a form of “literature” that violates any sense of respect for others. Rather than fostering, developing and promoting co-existence and harmony, it is a concocted fiction that incites unwarranted revulsion of Jews.
The play evokes the most notorious and repugnant anti-Semitic fiction, which was often used to whip up violent pogroms in Eastern Europe: the “blood libel” that accused Jews of murdering non-Jewish children for their blood. This libel motivated the most horrific massacres over centuries. Many members of our community here in Perth, including my wife, have ancestors who fled Russia from the late 1800s, to escape these hysterical and false accusations, and the violence that ensued from the libel.
Caryl Churchill’s portrayal of Jews as monstrous child-killers and ‘better haters’ because they are the ‘chosen people’ is straight out of the hallucinatory lexicons of medieval Jew-hatred. It is an open vilification of the Jewish people, not merely repeatedly perpetrating incendiary lies about Israel but demonstrably and openly promoting anti-Semitism.
On the one hand the portrayal of Jewish parents as if they incite hatred of Arabs is a baseless fiction that cannot be sustained by the facts. On the other hand, there are countless actual real-life, documented examples of Arab sermons, TV programmes and school textbooks that incite hatred, violence and suicide “martyrdom”. If Caryl Churchill’s play were a serious attempt to provoke rational analysis and debate about the Israel-Arab conflict, it wouldn’t be so patently biased: ignoring obvious facts on one side while conjuring up libellous fictions to denigrate the other.
I’d like to stress that I don’t seek to silence criticism of Israel. Constructive criticism is the hallmark of a free society. I welcome interest and debate about Israel and the Middle East that is rational, constructive and promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. However this play crosses all boundaries that separate rational, valid criticism from anti-Semitism.
Natan Sharansky, the famous Soviet dissident devised a “3D” test to distinguish valid criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism. If it fails any one of these three tests, it fails as valid criticism.
Firstly, does it demonize Jews, as anti-Semites have done for centuries? Comparisons of Israelis to Nazis and of the Palestinian refugee camps to Auschwitz can only be considered anti-Semitic. Those who draw such analogies either do not know anything about Nazi Germany or are deliberately trying to portray Jews as the embodiment of evil.
Secondly does it apply a double standard? It is blatant anti-Semitism, for instance, when Israel is singled out (for example, by the United Nations and misguided humanitarian organisations) for human rights abuses while at the same time paying comparatively little attention to obvious and chronic abusers like China, Iran, Cuba, Syria and many Arab nations.
Thirdly does it delegitimize the very existence of the nation of Israel? While criticism of an Israeli policy may not be anti-Semitic, the denial of Israel’s right to exist is always anti-Semitic. If other peoples have a right to live securely in their homelands, then the Jewish people have a right to live securely in their homeland.
“Seven Jewish Children” fails Sharansky’s 3D test on all counts. It is a partisan, hateful attack on only one side of a terrible conflict. It contributes nothing to its resolution, but instead exacerbates it and imports the animosities to our local community.

]]> By: Steve Lieblich http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1176&cpage=1#comment-14524 Steve Lieblich Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:18:32 +0000 http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1176#comment-14524 Hear, hear! Well said Gedalia. Ms Parke needs to reflect on her untenable, biased position on this. By the way, there has been a “response” play called "Seven Other Children" that contains "scenes of Muslim children being taught to hate Jewish and Christian children" See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Other_Children http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/seven-other-children-2/ http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/seven-other-children-john-nathans-review/ http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/freetime/freetimefeatures/4333992.New_play_responds_to_Caryl_Churchill_s_Seven_Jewish_Children/ http://www.thejc.com/articles/review-seven-other-children http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/2009/04/seven-other-children/ http://www.oyvagoy.com/2009/04/11/seven-other-children-and-the-shame-of-the-royal-court/ However, as Gedalia points out a “mirror” play that just turns the table is NOT the right response. If it’s wrong to put words into the mouths of Jewish parents, it’s also wrong to do so to Arab parents. Why concoct a fiction in response to the Caryl Churchill play? To see what Arabs are teaching their kids, checkout the REAL-LIFE, ACTUAL VIDEOS, which are referenced and linked in the following posting on JIW: http://jiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/genocide-starts-with-demonisation.html Regretfully, Ms Parke's call for the "freedom" to incite hatred of Jews indicates that the Arab campaign of demonisation is spreading to the "Friends of Palestine" in the UK and now here. Hear, hear! Well said Gedalia.

Ms Parke needs to reflect on her untenable, biased position on this.

By the way, there has been a “response” play called “Seven Other Children” that contains “scenes of Muslim children being taught to hate Jewish and Christian children”

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Other_Children
http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/seven-other-children-2/
http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/seven-other-children-john-nathans-review/
http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/freetime/freetimefeatures/4333992.New_play_responds_to_Caryl_Churchill_s_Seven_Jewish_Children/
http://www.thejc.com/articles/review-seven-other-children
http://www.fairplaycg.org.uk/2009/04/seven-other-children/
http://www.oyvagoy.com/2009/04/11/seven-other-children-and-the-shame-of-the-royal-court/

However, as Gedalia points out a “mirror” play that just turns the table is NOT the right response.

If it’s wrong to put words into the mouths of Jewish parents, it’s also wrong to do so to Arab parents.

Why concoct a fiction in response to the Caryl Churchill play? To see what Arabs are teaching their kids, checkout the REAL-LIFE, ACTUAL VIDEOS, which are referenced and linked in the following posting on JIW:

http://jiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/genocide-starts-with-demonisation.html

Regretfully, Ms Parke’s call for the “freedom” to incite hatred of Jews indicates that the Arab campaign of demonisation is spreading to the “Friends of Palestine” in the UK and now here.

]]>