Puppet theater

To palestinian propaganda !!

Hey Gideon, already back from the UK? When on stage, actors are not themselves. They simply portray a character. If they are really good, we admire their talent for letting us believe in the character. When you, Gideon, say to them ' Be ACTORS (and real people ), not puppets', are you not asking them to act out their (and also your) political views? But this is neither here or there. How about telling us how you enjoyed spreading your brand of information about Israel (and promote at the same time your new book) when you met with the radical fringe group Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) who last year hosted what it claimed was a Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration with a Hamas follower who supports suicide bombings, or the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a leading fringe group in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel. Tell us more about the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, the leading UK group advocating a boycott of Israeli academia and how the British Committee is working hard to pressure the UK government and European Union for the exclusion of Israel from the European Research Area and encourage academics to break all professional links with Israel. Tell us Gideon, did you feel comfortable in the company of anti-Israel haters?

MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari explained that the Jews in Judea and Samaria don't need some leftist immodest performance in their communities. Don't be so proud dear leftists, as if you are inflicting some sort of pain on the Jews of Judea and Samaria. It is G-d's will that we not have you perform your filth in Ariel. Stay in Tel-Aviv with your filth, or better yet get out of the holyland entirely. Go to America there they might want your filth.

No Mr. Levy some of us living in Tel Aviv do not support your self-hating anti-Zionist bent. Your hatred of this country is so transparent that is almost too pathetic for comment.

Gideon Levy like others on this site in his last paragraph speaks for "the world". He reminds me of those with the arrogance to speak for God. Mr. Levy is just another leftist who ought to learn to express his opinions with some modesty,.

Could Haaretz or anybody else provide us with the list of actors who signed the letter?

The boycott should not be limited to the actors but it should involve all aspects of Israeli life serving this wrong doing against the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories. And in particular I believe it should involve the army and soldiers are they are serving in as direct agents of the state against a besieged and mostly a civilian population. Whose only crime is they want their land & freedom back. In the long run it saves their own skin from crimin-al prosecution on war crimes. (They should all know after the Nuremberg Trials there is no such thing as the state made me do it. Their first and foremost duty is based on what is morally right or wrong and then what is legal or lawful. And on that note the justices' ruling should serve as their guide. They will be vindicated. ) Dutch

i am surprised by this display of violent righteousness by GL, a writer who seems to be hooting for peace. If that is the the israeli "Left", I can see how the "Right" can find itself "justified" by the violence it preaches and inflicts. The article imagines the situation is black and white, you either perform in illegal settlements all israelies fund via tax, and some are even required to defend via military service - or you are a humane cultural practitioner and boycott these dens of evil doings. Boycotting, not talking, disregarding other people - bad and wrong as they might be - is an ignorant violent act, that ignores complexities, and the world, in spite of all godly attempts, is colourful and full of lights of all sorts of shades.. GL, how you might feel about cultural practitioners and institutions who might perform in that stolen land called Ariel, and then donate all proceedings to a Ramallah theatre? Or such people, who might do it only if that was OKed by the Palestinian Authorities? Or maybe others, who performed in that despeakable place, but would not end the play, as a protest? There are many ways to show displeasure, boycott is one of the more violent - I hope your call, GL was out of a momentary sense of anger.

That if Israelis and others boycott the "boycotters" you will define it as a democratic response and not your usual histrionics and label it a "fascist response?" Probably not realizing that in your world, democracy is a one way street

The way actors boycott Jewish audience the Jewish audience can boycott those leftist actors. In real life the one who pays for the music orders what to play.

Recently Gideon Levy has visited London and acted to strengthen the hands of the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people. By allowing him a stage in Haaretz Newspaper, the owners of Haaretz are aiding and abeting with Livy's treacherous acts. Esther Sherman esther.shermane@googlemail.com

It is interesting that the first boycott by Israelis against the settlers is by actors, but this profession allows them to be less inhibited. For a similar reason, foreign actors are the first to boycott Israel for the sin of occupation. A boycott by Israelis is appropriate because it allows the citizenry to express its true opinion, which the Knesset has a more difficult time doing due to political considerations. The boycott should be more widespread, and not only for cultural events. People who are against the occupation should not employ or give work to settlers, thus allowing them to maintain their harmful "lifestyle". Let the people of Israel speak out in a way the settlers can hear.

Let's see...would that be putting on a play to glorify Goldstein...or writing a book on how to chop down an olive grove in a night...or would it be a primer on the best way to conspire with the IDF to cover up decades of an occupier's crimes?

speaking of puppets, the Puppet Train Theatre in Jerusalem has performed for children in the Territories for the last 20 years. Very few of the many artists workin in that theater have refused to cross the Green Line. Unfortunately

If you forgoe Ariel, then you forgoe Tel Aviv. As far as the Arabs are concerned, they are the same. It's all occupied territory.

How can we be angry at those few foreign artists who refuse to perform in Israel because of the political situation if we support the boycott of Ariel by Israeli actors? The final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will decide which areas remains as part of Israel and I have no doubt that Ariel, as part of a large group of urban settlement, will remain inside Israel in exchange for other land which the Palestinians will receive. Btw, I hope that Mr. Levy had a successful book tour of the UK, organised for him by the most extremist anti-Israel groups. Those activists delegimatise Israel's existence on a daily basis and I would be interested to hear Mr. Levy's explanation and justification for accepting their help and support for his book tour - does he accept their political stand that Israel doesn't have the right to exist?

In 2004 a fourteen justice panel at the Internation-al Court of Justice ruled unanimously that the settlements were in violation of international law and would have to be dismantled and voided. Hence no court is going to make them legal and it is beyond time for Israelis to accept their quasi - legal presence under military rule as that's all illegal too. The justices ruled all Israeli forces must withdraw from the Palestinian territories they have occupied since 1967.....Hence it is unconscionable to talk about the settlers deserving culture when they desire to have the book throw at them and told to pack up and go....Dutch

If peace negotiations are to start with no preconditions, as Netanyahu (and settler leaders) insisted be the case, Ariel is under the same question mark as everything else. The inhabitants of Ariel can easily get to TA - or anywhere else within the green line for Cameri and Habima performances. // When the time comes that Arab inhabitants of the surrounding villages can visit Ariel for theatre performances, there'll be no criticism of actors and companies performing in Ariel. Until then, any actors taking part in performances in Ariel will be seen exactly for what they are: mammon's puppets.

Frozen People

and I will try to get refund on current membership as well.

on January 29 2010 I remember reading that Netanyahu reaffirm Israel's claim on major Jewish population centers in Judea and Samaria, and declared the Jewish city of Ariel "the capital of Samaria." He planted a symbolic tree in the city, as he did earlier in the week in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, and Maaleh Adumin, located west of the capital and overlooking the Dead Sea. Prime Minister Netanyahu has consistently balked at efforts by the Obama administration to ignore promises made in writing by former U.S. President George W. Bush to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that major Jewish population centers would remain part of Israel in any future arrangement with the PA. The American administration has justified its position by stating that Bush's promises are not legally binding, although the refusal to recognize the Bush policy is a rare if not unprecedented diversion from accepted diplomatic protocol.

The theaters have a full rigth to boycott Ariel. However, the state should stop all subsidies to the theaters. Citizens of Ariel should not pay for the theaters that boycott them. (same as professors calling for boycott of Israel should not get their salaries from the state).

the stance takened by the actors is natural consquence of their world view. morality (as analyzed by prof johnathan haidt) consists of 5 principles: harm/care,mutual responsibility,family loyalty,respect for authority,sanctity/purity. the right and left only share belief in the first two. the latter three are only endorsed by the right and rejected by the left. this is the heart of the issue. the right sees morality as demanding loyal to the family including the greater family -one's nation. the left rejects this principle. when fellow jews boycott another,it hurts. its a violation of family loyalty. worst,it seems an act of support for the enemy and its all done in the name of morality. to paraphrase fdr: we have nothing to fear but 'in fighting' of jews. we would do well to reconcile our differences and show love for one another.when we stand shoulder to shoulder then nothing can get in between us. disunity makes us vunerable.

Since the government has been hijacked by extremists more interested in their own political career than in the human rights of ALL people who live there, let the grassroots stand up and say this is wrong. Maybe that will make the goy believe that you really are the chosen. Bravo to the actors with morals.

Mr. Levy has forgotten one little detail. If one wants to stop performing in the "occupied territorries" every single square cm of Israel has to be made Juderein. In the eyes of our neighbors It does not matter if the performance is in Tel Aviv, Haifa or Ariel, because all of it is occupied territory. Fortunately most Israelis understand this. Most of the article is depending on what side of the spectrum you stand (and unlike the article wants to make it appear, we are dealing with only a small minority of artists in the productions) but the notion that by not performing in Ariel is closing or opening doors outside of Israel is a dangerous naiveté that is somehow surprising to see in a respected journalist.

In the world of theater, the courageous decision is to perform in Ariel. Those artists banning Ariel simply prefer to remain within the worldwide comfortable theater crowd. They look at their bank accounts and consider the economic consequences of loosing contracts abroad. There is much more cynicism here, rather than true values. Besides, if they do not perform in Ariel they should not perform in Jerusalem too (following their point of view), which is outside the green line. To the moral issue: Why is a baby born in Ariel guilty of something? Why a baby born in Ariel has less humanitarian rights to this land than a Palestinian baby?

The West Bank is DISPUTED territory - neither sovereign to the Pals nor to the Israelis. The fact that Jordan and Iraq attacked Israel several times from this territory, formerly OCCUPIED by Jordan for 19 yrs., does not give the Pals nor Arabs any more claim then Israel. Notwithstanding the media B.S. “Green Line” for the past 43 years, only Israel has been threatened with annihilation from this territory, and is demarcated only as a place where the Arab armies were stopped in this attempt in 1949. I seem to recall Jordan building there for 19 years and not allowing Jews to visit their holy sites (under UN sanction – how soon we forget) in that territory, and yet there was no media frenzy at the time - why was that? No Saudi $$$? If I was Israeli, I would boycott the “artists” concerned. They're traitors to the country which sustains them.

Ariel’s geopolitical location holds the world’s attention, with a direct impact on Israeli and international policy. Ariel is the Capital of Samaria. The city maintains a politically recognized consensus status as being an integral part of the State of Israel. The city's population, its strategic significance to Israel's security and survival and its contribution to Israel's economic growth all contribute to Ariel's consensus status, as well as to the quality of life of the surrounding communities. Indeed, Ariel's continued development will insure a secure future for its neighbors.

And it may very well be the spark that unleashes a flood of Israel boycotts by the international community - many of which have been poised at the verge for quite some time. Something like THIS could be all it take to end any debate that has held them in check thus far. These fine people are not alone, because the world community stands with them...and I'll venture that a majority in Israel do as well.

Gideon Levy's article is needed now more then ever. Mr. Levy is presents an important challegee. Will Israel be a State of enlightment, or will it return to the life in the ""shtetle" The problem exists in the U.S. as well.