ELECTION: Blakeman and Rice talk with The Jewish Star, 18-19 • SCHOOLS: Open house ads, 10-13
THE JEWISH
STAR
October 24, 2014 • 30 Tishrei 5775
TheJewishStar.com
THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLAND’S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES
Met stages vile show as protesters rail Commentary by Seth Lipsky The thing I kept thinking about at the opening night of “The Death of Klinghofferâ€? is that it’s not the ďŹ rst time that the Metropolitan Opera has put on its boards a drama about the murder of a Jew — or Jews. There is, after all, Nabucco, Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece about the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews. It features Va, Pensiero, known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves — a profoundly sympathetic melodic evocation of Jewish longing. “Klinghoffer,â€? John Adams’ opera about the hijacking of the Achille Lauro, turns out to be a different story. This had already been ďŹ gured out by the Jewish leadership in New York. They have for months been protesting plans to mount this production. The protest Monday, across the street from Lincoln Center, included an ideological cross section of politicians, such as Mayor Giuliani, Representatives Peter King and Carolyn Maloney, Ronald Lauder of the World Jewish Congress, and a former governor of New York State, David Paterson. Jewish protests had already won cancellation of the Met’s plan to broadcast “Klinghofferâ€? globally, but the Met insisted on going ahead with the stage production, using the slogan: “See it. Then Decide.â€? I tried to get several friends to join me for opening night, but one after another they demurred. No one in my circle wanted to see a celebration of
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a Jew being murdered as he sat in a wheelchair. I, however, am besotted with the newspapermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vice, even if my heart is with the protesters. Before the opera, I spent two hours with the several hundred gathered in Dante Park across from the Lincoln Center. In front of the Operaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own plaza, across Ninth Avenue (and
the police lines), a line of more protesters sat in wheelchairs. Their backs were to the Metâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast windows, through which shone the magniďŹ cent murals by Marc Chagall, the same artist who did the paintings in the Knesset. When, in 1896, the German antiSemite Hermann Ahlwardt came to New Continued on page 4
Everywhere, diaspora Jews are targets Commentary by Ben Cohen The opera â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Death of Klinghofferâ&#x20AC;? opened at the Met. Rightly castigated for its invocation of unpleasant Jewish stereotypes and its apologia for the Palestinian terroristsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; murder of an elderly Jewish tourist in a wheelchair, its staging for the umpteenth time since it was ďŹ rst produced at the Brook-
lyn Academy of Music in 1991 has been interpreted by some in the Jewish community as signaling a â&#x20AC;&#x153;normalizationâ&#x20AC;? of anti-Semitism. Indeed, this was the focus of a panel last week, organized by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) in New York, in which I was privileged to participate. Inevitably, our exchange wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t re-
stricted to the content of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Klinghoffer,â&#x20AC;? but spanned a range of issues from the perilous situation in the Middle East, presently caught in the pincers of Islamic State atrocities and rising Iranian power, to the explosion of antiSemitic violence in Europe over the summer. ReďŹ&#x201A;ecting on what was said at the Continued on page 4
Jewish GOP rallies to Blakemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side By The Jewish Star Staff The Republican candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat of retiring Democrat Carolyn McCarthy drew 200 voters to the Lawrence Yacht and Country Club on Monday night. Former White House press secretary %UXFH %ODNHPDQ VSHDNV DW 0RQGD\ QLJKWÂśV IRUXP ZLWK 5-& Ari Fleischer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with relatives in the Five ([HF 'LU 0DWW %URRNV DQG $UL )OHLVFKHU -HZLVK 6WDU SKRWR Towns â&#x20AC;&#x201D; brought star power to a forum
event meant to hearten Bruce Blakemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chances against the better-known Democratic contender, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, served as moderator. Fleischer conceded that Jewish Republicans continued to be greatly out-
numbered by their Democratic bretheren, but said the gap was decreating. Blakeman said he and Rice did not share a common vision for Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe Israel should give up land for peace,â&#x20AC;? Blakeman said, adding that he would not simply speak up for Israel but would be a vigorous advocate. The RJC embraces â&#x20AC;&#x153;a true unadulterated pro-Israel foreign policy,â&#x20AC;? said board member Eliot Lauer, a local resident, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We defend Israel without appology and without doublespeak. We support the government of Israel, the people of Israel and the land of Israel. There is no equivocation.â&#x20AC;? Israel wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only topic discussed. Blakeman spoke strongly of his support of lower taxes and for fracking in New York. In response to a question, Blakeman and Fleischer said it would be unwise to seek the impeachment of President Obama.
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