Hale School is planning to stage the anti-Semitic play “Seven Jewish Children : A Play for Gaza” by Carol Churchill on 13th, 14th and 15th October.
See below for some notes on this piece of blood libel…
The play is planned to be staged by Redfoot (the Hale School Theatre Company), by two recent Curtin graduates, Laura Fullerton and Nicole la Bianca. These graduates “are seeking a cast of 7 to 10 Year 11 students to be involved in a challenging theatrical process exploring the relevant themes that this play presents…”
If you’re concerned by this (and you should be), write to:
Stuart Meade, Headmaster
Hale School
Hale Road
Wembley Downs
Western Australia 6019
Telephone: +61 8 9347 9777
Email: jnradmin@hale.wa.edu.au
From The Spectator, Sunday, 8th February 2009, by Melanie Phillips
The Royal Court’s mystery play
… a ten-minute blood-libel written by Caryl Churchill. …
Ostensibly about Israel, it is actually a direct attack on the Jews. It tells them in effect that they are to be held responsible for the fact that in Israel Jews have turned into Nazis. Indeed, the title ‘Seven Jewish children’ makes that explicit…
…The Jews are presented as literally dehumanised, with the claim that they feel no pity or sorrow for the babies they have killed because they assert they have a monopoly on suffering; indeed, they supposedly laugh at those they have killed. And the portrayal of Jews as not only monstrous child-killers but ‘better haters’ because they are the ‘chosen people’ is straight out of the hallucinatory lexicons of medieval Jew-hatred.
This is an open vilification of the Jewish people, not merely repeatedly perpetrating incendiary lies about Israel but demonstrably and openly drawing upon an atavistic hatred of the Jews. It is sickening and dreadful beyond measure that the Royal Court theatre is staging this. It is not a contribution to a necessarily polarised and emotional debate. It is open incitement to hatred.
In the Middle Ages, ‘mystery plays’ which portrayed the Jews as the demonic killers of Christ helped fuel the murderous pogroms against the Jews of Europe. With this piece by Caryl Churchill, the Royal Court is staging a modern ‘mystery play’. It is a despicable act.
From The Jewish Chronicle, February 12, 2009, by Leon Symons
Outrage over ‘demonising’ play for Gaza
A 10-minute play about the history of Israel by the playwright Caryl Churchill has been condemned as antisemitic…
[Jewish Board of deputies] spokesman Mark Frazer said: …“We knew the play was going to be horrifically anti-Israel because Caryl Churchill is a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; the title Seven Jewish Children is the least of what pushes it beyond the boundaries reasonable political discourse.”
…Jonathan Hoffman, co-vice chairman of the Zionist Federation, has seen the play. He said: “This was a libellous and despicable demonisation of Israeli parents and grandparents which will only stoke the fires of antisemitism.
“It draws on several antisemitic stereotypes, from the blood libel through to the ‘chosen people’ trope.
“It is a grotesque parody of Jewish history, distorted to portray Israeli fathers as heartless, murderous triumphalists and Israeli mothers as caring only about what’s best for their daughters.
“Fortunately, the vast majority of London theatregoers are nowhere near as brainless as these demonised Jews — and certainly nowhere near as brainless as Caryl Churchill takes them for.” …
From The Sunday Times, February 15, 2009, by Christopher Hart
… Churchill comes across like a very minor Old Testament prophet, bewailing the Wickedness of my people Israel (Jeremiah 7:12). And the final lines, delivered by an Israeli in full rant, about how the Palestinians are “animals”, how he wants to see their children “covered in blood”, are simply outrageous.
…Seven Jewish Children isn’t art, it’s straitjacketed political orthodoxy. No surprises, no challenges, no risks. Only the enclosed, fetid, smug, self-congratulating and entirely irrelevant little world of contemporary political theatre. Fresh air is urgently needed. But I’m not holding my breath.
Meanwhile, donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians seems a good idea. I just hope the supplies get through. Two weeks ago, the UN suspended all food aid to Gaza after 10 lorryloads of supplies, 3,500 blankets and 400 food boxes were stolen at gunpoint. By Hamas.