Stalin's commissar in the PMO
The refusal by actors to perform in occupied territory is not delegitimization of the state, as the prime minister claims, but the expression of a legitimate and worthy position.
Haaretz Editorial Tags: Israel newsThe settlement of Ariel is in occupied territory, and future sovereignty over it is a matter of dispute. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes, and declares, that "the capital of Samaria" will become part of Israel in any future peace agreement, but even he realizes that Ariel is different. The fact is that his government froze construction in Ariel, not in Haifa or Givatayim.
 |
Cultural center in the West Bank settlement of Ariel |
| Photo by: David Bachar |
But even during the settlement freeze, the Netanyahu government has been using symbolic means in an attempt to reinforce an image of Ariel as an integral part of Israel: upgrading the academic status of the Ariel University Center of Samaria and building a new performing arts center in the settlement. That is how the government is trying to blur the Green Line.
Thirty-six actors, directors and screenwriters who disagree with the government's policy published a letter to theater managements in which they announced their refusal to take part in performances in Ariel. The letter expressed the artists' conscientious objection to performing in occupied territory and noted the right to protest in a democratic society. They succeeded in putting the debate about Ariel on the agenda. But their position is unacceptable to Israel's rightist government, which quickly responded with typical aggressiveness. Netanyahu, Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz are all threatening to deny government funding to cultural institutions that refuse to hold performances beyond the Green Line.
Netanyahu is acting like Andrei Zhdanov, Stalin's cultural commissar: He is trying to compel artists to express a government policy that seeks to annex Ariel, by threatening to harm their livelihood. Instead of respecting Israeli citizens' freedom of conscience and right to protest, Netanyahu is treating them like forced laborers mobilized to serve the ideology of the ruling party. Refusing to perform in occupied territory is not delegitimization of the state, as Netanyahu claims, but the expression of a legitimate and worthy position.
Theater actors are not marionettes, and cultural coercion of artists who fear for their livelihood does not befit a freedom-loving country. Cultural and academic institutions that receive budgetary support from the state do not owe it obedience in return. On the contrary, the government should be thankful for the existence of institutions that constitute such a vital interest for Israeli society.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
at the Ariel Arts Center, or is it restricted to the 350,000 illegal settlers? Are performances by Pal groups also scheduled there, or only by Israeli groups?
Why waste my tax money on building a cultural center in the West Bank settlement of Ariel when many Arab cities and villages can't get budgets to build schools or cultural centers? The government has no problem finding money for building in the illegal settlements, but they always use the excuse that there's no money for the most basic needs of local schools - such as class rooms, air-condioners, school supplies, teacher salaries, etc, etc.
If Haaretz states that this is not harming the state then please be assured it is harming Israel's interest.
If a group of actors signed a petition declaring their unwillingness to perform for Arabs, Immigrants or Sephardim the would be dismissed from the public tax funded theater groups in a moment. This is no different. Citizens in Ariel have as much right to the services of public funded theaters as any other citizen. Actors who can not live up to that obligation should take the proper step and resign their positions from those theater groups.
Citizens usually belong to a specific country. Ariel is occupied territory, can't you get it? Can I take part of your backyard and still qualify for social security benefits? Can I steal your car and claim its depreciation on my tax return? My questions are as absurd as your assumption that citizens in Ariel deserve state services!
I would like to express my admiration of the courage of these actors who are making this protest against fierce opposition in Israel. They are putting their jobs on the line for what they believe in.
Josephus and the Jewish Wars, stay tuned, the saga continues. The difference between the left and the right is that the left ignores history. The left ignores the wrong doings of the Palestinians, always willing to start anew and the left do not realize that civil war could easily happen again. The conservative right on the other hand remembers the past and educates to avoid such reoccurrences. The action by these actors stoke the internal flames and should be condemned for this, especially at a time when Israel's true enemies are still plotting against it.
Where do you see any sign at all that "the conservative right educates to avoid such reoccurrences" (sic)? The conservative right's obsession with history repeats it instead of correcting it. It builds walls, hunkers down, remains on the defensive, hopes for salvation instead of doing something realistic to save itself (and us) and ultimately loses everything.
Do you think millions of disillusioned (duped) Israelis are gonna want to leave or become Palestinian civilians? Do you think Israel can foot the bill for reparations? Israel has never legally annexed ANY territories. Even territories acquired by war must be legally annexed. The ONLY territories Sovereign to Israel are those it declared May 14th 1948 "…. within frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947 " according to the provisional Israeli Govt of Israel May 14th 1948.
When we moderate Israelis mobilize against the dream of Greater Israel, the state of israel may possibly be saved. When a dream is bigger than reality, we are doomed to wake up one day.
where you from ?
RELAX ! YOU LEFTISTS CAN STAY ON YOUR FAITH WHATEVER IS IT. THIS IS SERIOUS POST ! SO DONT PASS WITHOUT MARKING IT POZITIVELY, PLEASE.
Everyone in a democracy has a right to their stupid opinion, but if one stands firmly on his/her/its moral high ground, the least he/she/it can do is refuse money from those he'she/it disdains. Alas, it is not so for these brave, moral artists, nor for the brave, moral folk at BGU, nor for the not so brave, not so moral Haredim, If the Torah is disgusted by anything, it's hypocrisy !
seeing that the US condems further settlement construction
If they really had bullocks they'd perform in the places where they think their messages need to be heard most. But instead, they act like little babies, withholding their love. I believe that they are bound to a rude awakening, when they discover that they're not really wanted or missed. Art is art and theater is business. An artist has the right to either create or not create, but don't expect the taxpayers to pay for non-performance. In Israel the actors have a wonderful patron, they shouldn't blow it. The left is descending, they won't have the protection of liberal MK's for much longer.
Their non-performance is. Do you really think a theatre in an illegal settlement is gonna put on a show about how the theatre is in an illegal settlement? Sheeeeshka I'm glad you're not my management.
Obviously you're not a playwright or an artist. Because if you were, you'd know that you have to play to the hearts and minds of the audience and attempt to influence their consciousness by appealing to what the audience understands. There's a famous advertising story about how J Walter Thompson was pitching Carnegie and how Carnegie said he didn't need any. J Walter responded, you already have it, you're just not paying for it. The message of the artists not to play will be lost and the message of those filling the gaps will be heard.
And he's getting the bunch of nettles we've all been sitting in for much too long. // It's over. The pipe-dream's over.
A) NONE. B) If they did, who'd they play to? Do you really think illegal settlers would buy a ticket to a play telling them to get the hell out of Palestine A or B there'd be no one to give the message to, they don't want to hear it. Better to say we're not playing in illegally occupied territories. BTW Israeli law since 1948 and still current forbids Israeli civilians and residents from entering a hostile entity. Israel declared the Palestinians a hostile entity...[except of course for illegal settlers]
Happens all the time, and perhaps their condemnation of it is sufficient to satisfy their conscience. This is understandable to some degree, but what isn't understandable is when they condemn, denigrate, or in any way fault those who, instead of silently turning away, act on their principles by attempting to stop the wrong with whatever means and influence they possess. The problem isn't with Ariel itself, but until it's annexed as part of a land swap within the terms of a peace agreement, it represents the 'whole' of the occupation, the settlements, outposts, roadblocks, and every IDF and settler infringement upon the lives of the Palestinians in the West Bank. And what the these artists are doing is NOT necessarily a boycott - it's a refusal to contribute to what essentially amounts to as a 'validation' of the occupation and all of its elements. They should be commended for having chosen to act on the principles of their moral convictions, even in the face of the intense criticism and adversity they've encountered as a result. Ahhhh...but no doubt the settlers and their supporters will have their smug satisfaction when these artists are forced to comply under threat of losing their life's endeavors and their livelihoods...