The city of Acre announced over the weekend its intention to cancel the Fringe Theater Festival that was scheduled to take place there over the Sukkot holiday. The decision came following unrest in the mixed Jewish-Arab city during the Yom Kippur holiday that saw 30 people arrested, and some 40 stores and 100 cars damaged.
The riots erupted around midnight Wednesday, hours after the start of the holiday (when traffic comes to a standstill in Jewish areas) when an Arab resident drove his car through a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, allegedly playing loud music, in what Jewish residents called a deliberate provocation.
"This is not a time for celebrations," Acre mayor Shimon Lankri said over the weekend. It remains unclear when the festival will be held, if at all.
Playwrights and actors expressed their disappointment at the cancellation.
"We don't understand the situation," said Ben Avner Hecht, the author and director of "Henya Pekelman," one of 10 plays scheduled to participate in the festival competition. "We have been working on the production since July, and even if it is staged somewhere else instead, it will look like only a piece of what it was supposed to be," he said.
The evening after the riots, as Hecht was driving his truck to the northern coastal city, he was told to stop his truck and wait for further details. Less than an hour later, around 10:30 P.M., he was told to return the truck to Tel Aviv, as the festival had been cancelled.
"It is a confusing and saddening feeling, because small groups of people with a tendency and need to avoid reality are influencing decisions," added Tal Barnea, who created and performs in "In the Name of Zion."
This year's event was expected to be bigger than any previous, with 430 performances scheduled, from 65 companies and groups. Festival managers from around the world were invited to the event.
All of the preparations had already been made when news of the cancellation came this weekend. At virtually the last minute, organizers were instructed to take apart the stages and sets.
This is the second time in the festival's 29-year history that it has been cancelled.
In 2000, just weeks after the start of the second intifada, and the related unrest that broke out in the city, that year's festival also had the curtain dropped on it. Its opening was postponed until three weeks later, on November 3, but when it eventually took place, it had lost the festive flavor it normally had when held during Sukkot. The 2000 festival was a sad affair, and poorly attended.
This year, postponement is again an option, and festival director general Albert Ben-Chelouche convened the participating artists Friday to hear their recommendations on the matter.
"It was difficult and painful to sit in front of them," he said.
"Something happened in the city of Acre that broke all of the red lines. Co-existence was shattered before our eyes," he added.
"Only a native son can understand the enormity of the tragedy that took place here. Some Jewish youths attacked an Arab driver who was intentionally driving wildly on Yom Kippur in a Jewish neighborhood, and the imam of the mosque called on all the Arabs to take revenge on the Jews," Ben-Chelouche said.
Daniela Michaeli, the festival's artistic director, said that, "even if the situation is dangerous, we could have expressed our sorrow by cancelling the outdoor portion alone.
"What most irritates me is the statement, 'This is not a fitting environment for holding a festival.' That's an inappropriate statement, because the environment is not determined by a few barbarians," she said.
A group of playwrights and artists petitioned the mayor and city council members "to fulfill their public and civil duty and hold the festival during the intermediate days of Sukkot."
Science, Culture and Sports Minister Raleb Majadele urged the mayor to retract the cancellation.
Tel Aviv's Tzavta center for the performing arts also issued a statement of condemnation over the cancellation.
"If the decision is not overturned," said a statement issued by theater director general Moshe Tene and chairman Gavriel Bergil, "Tzavta will hold an event on Thursday, October 16, under the name 'No to Violence, Yes to Culture,' which will include performances scheduled for the festival." Ben-Chelouche, however, says he is firmly opposed to that idea.
"Tzavta is trying to dance on the blood of the Acre Festival," he said. "What chutzpah to steal our performances."
