Look Behind You! It's Jeremy Corbyn!


February 29, 2016
Sarah Benton

Jewish students in the play (2) respond to the Jewish Chronicle, 1). The International Business Times tries to stay neutral. No-one actually reviews it.

Pro-Palestinian students perform ‘antisemitic’ play as part of Israel Apartheid Week

EXCLUSIVE

By Jewish Chronicle Reporter,
February 25, 2016

A pro-Palestinian student group co-run by the son of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, has performed a play widely described as antisemitic as part of Israel Apartheid Week.

York University’s student Palestinian Solidarity Society staged two productions of “Seven Jewish Children – A Play for Palestine” on Thursday afternoon.

Tommy Corbyn, who is studying electrical engineering at York, is the society’s events manager.

 
Caryl Churchill, Howard Jacobson

The play, written by Caryl Churchill as a response to an Israeli attack on Gaza, was first performed in 2009. In seven short scenes, totalling only 10 minutes, it examines modern Jewish history.

The JC’s theatre critic described the work as antisemitic, highlighting a moment when one Jewish character appears to be glorifying in Palestinian suffering.

Author Howard Jacobson described it as “Jew-hating, pure and simple”.
The play at York was a joint production by the Palestinian Solidarity Society and another group, the Antigone Collective.

Israel supporters issued flyers opposing the production, asking if York University “supports antisemitic culture”.

In a statement, the university Jewish Society condemned the staging.

The society added that in rejecting opposition to the event, York students’ union had showed a lack of concern about antisemitism on campus.

The staging was one of a series of events mounted by students across the country as part of the annual anti-Israel campaign at universities. Other activities included stunts such as the construction of mock Israeli military checkpoints and talks by anti-Israel propagandists backing an academic boycott of the country.

Jewish students have responded by mounting an initiative under the title “Building Bridges” designed to promote dialogue about Israel’s positive role in the world.


Responding to the JC article , the Jewish members of the York Palestine Solidarity Society have released this statement

To whom it may concern,

We are Jews and Israelis who work and study in York. Some of us were in the audience for the recent performance of Caryl Churchill’s ten minute play Seven Jewish Children at the University of York; others were involved in its production and acted in it. All of us are committed to seeing a just peace in Israel and Palestine.

Some of us have only attended Palestinian Solidarity Society events, others are ordinary members and committee members of this university society. It is clear to us that the society is committed to fighting racism and prejudice in all its guises, in particular intolerance of Palestinians in Israel, as well as Palestinian prejudice against Jews. One audience member, Dr. Lisa Peschel, a lecturer in York’s theatre department who conducts research on Jewish ghetto theatre, said, “This play does not claim to be a balanced and objective look at the entire range of Israeli political opinions, but it accurately represents certain voices in Israeli politics while acknowledging Jewish suffering as well. It addresses a humanitarian crisis that urgently needs to be discussed.”

As Israelis and Jews, some of us have personal experiences of being labelled antisemitic because we have expressed criticism of the abusive and intolerant attitudes of many Israelis, or of Israeli policies, towards the Palestinian people. Our support of an occupied, oppressed people is often mistakenly perceived, particularly by those Jews who identify as Zionist, as anti-Semitic sentiment.

To equate criticism of Zionism with anti-Semitism is not only dishonest, it also has an adverse effect for those Jews who do suffer actual intolerant, anti-Semitic abuse which should be taken seriously. Moreover, this misplaced accusation calls into question our own Jewishness, which we find an offensive gesture.

Finally, we would like to make it clear that Tommy Corbyn, son of the leader of the Labour Party, had nothing to do with organising, producing or even promoting the play.

Sincerely,

Maddie Boden
Eran Cohen
Edmund Dable-Heath
Hagar Geula
Juliana Morrison
Adrian Tellwright


University of York: Students peform ‘antisemitic’ play Seven Jewish Children during Israel Apartheid Week

By Ewan Palmer, IB Times
February 26, 2016

The University of York Students’ Union (YUSU) has been criticised for allowing a pro-Palestinian group to stage two productions of a play described as antisemitic during Israel Apartheid Week. University of York student group the Palestinian Solidarity Society (PSS), co-run by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s son Tommy, performed Carly Churchill’s controversial play Seven Jewish Children at a university building on 25 February.

The 10-minute play was written in response to an Israeli attack in Gaza in January 2009 and first performed at London’s Royal Court Theatre later that year. It features seven short scenes focusing on different stages of modern Jewish history. Nearly every line in the play’s dialogue begins with “tell her” or “don’t tell her” as Jewish adults discuss how to explain events from the Holocaust to the Gaza conflict to a never seen child.

However, the play was criticised upon release for being antisemitic as “the words Israel, Israelis, Zionism and Zionist are not mentioned once in the play”.

Dave Rich and Mark Gardner of the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors antisemitism in the UK, wrote in the Guardian in 2009: “We are often told that when people talk about Israel or Zionists, it is mischievous to accuse them of meaning Jews. Now, we are expected to imagine that a play that talks only of Jews, in fact, means Israelis. The anti-Zionist conceit that, as long as you are talking about Israel, you can say whatever you want about Jews, is laid bare here.”

John Nathan, theatre critic for the Jewish Chronicle, added in his review for Seven Jewish children: “For the first time in my career as a critic, I am moved to say about a work at a major production house that this is an antisemitic play.”

The University of York Jewish Society has condemned YUSU for allowing the event to go-ahead and accused the union of showing a “lack of concern” when confronted by issues of anti-Semitism.

A spokesperson added: “The Jewish Society reported the antisemitic content of the play hosted by PSS to YUSU at the earliest opportunity. YUSU responded explaining that it does not operate a ‘no-platform’ policy and that the event had been approved as it was deemed safe. This is a classic, and awful, example of how Jewish concerns are treated with contempt by a student body that claims to have universal anti-racist values.

“Despite YUSU’s dismissal of no-platform policies, YUSU has not taken a stand against this play and the antisemitism therein. The Jewish Society finds this approach to be entirely inconsistent with YUSU’s commitment to challenging antisemitism in a serious manner.

“The Jewish Society was not contacted by YUSU or the University regarding this event. In fact, the number of times that the Jewish Society has been contacted by YUSU (including BME Officers) or the University about the welfare and safety of Jewish students on campus has been nil. The Jewish Society has been completely alone in the battle against anti-Semitism on campus.

“Despite claims that the University and YUSU take anti-Semitism seriously, there has been no positive action to do so. The Jewish Society, however, considers actions to be much more indicative than words in this fight against anti-Semitism.”

Ben Leatham, University of York Students’ Union President, denied the allegations made by the University of York Jewish Society. He told IBTimes UK: “A wide variety of student-led events and performances take place on a near daily bases on campus and within the community. We take our responsibility to uphold freedom of speech seriously and we work hard to get the balance right between protecting our students and supporting them to exercise free speech in a safe and constructive, if sometimes challenging, learning environment.

“We back this up with a robust risk management system which was followed in this instance. We take any concern about discrimination or threats to personal security very seriously and endeavor to promote an inclusive environment at all times.’

A University of York spokesperson added: “Caryl Churchill is an award-winning playwright whose work has been widely performed, including Seven Jewish Children – a play for Gaza, at the Royal Court Theatre. The proposal for staging the play at the University went through our normal procedures and protocols. As an institution we are committed to the principles of free speech and freedom of expression.”

Defending the decision to first show the play in 2009, the Royal Court Theatre said that while the play is “undoubtedly” critical of Israel, there is “no suggestion that this should be read as a criticism of Jewish people.” A spokesperson added: “It is possible to criticise the actions of Israel without being antisemitic.”

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