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'Censorship' row as theatre cancels Israeli soldier show
Mark Blunden28.04.09
A group of young Israeli soldiers turned singers are at the centre of a censorship row after their central London performance was cancelled.
Five soldiers, aged 19, from the Israeli Defence Force had been due to perform a medley of national songs at the Bloomsbury Theatre as part of a sell-out family show to celebrate their country's 61st anniversary.
But the show has been shelved after the venue, owned by University College London, claimed the content was "political". The organisers, the Zionist Federation, denied the claim, saying the songs do not have any military content and accused UCL of censorship.
It has been moved to a secret "north London venue" and is due to be watched today by hundreds of theatre-goers.
The Zionist Federation, which supports the integration of Jews in Israel, says the new venue has already been inundated with complaints and the soldiers' routine, the Israel 61 Family Show, could be pulled altogether.
The show also features school choirs, dancing and appearances by radio presenter Nick Ferrari and stand-up comedian Mark Maier.
The organisers say the soldiers - Loren Benjamin Peled, Shaylee Atary, Noga Erez, Reut Raz and Menachem Liav Ben David - have never seen active service and come from the defence force's education unit, which entertains at bases and on the frontline. But human rights groups rejected the idea the show was "a bit of fun" and accused the IDF of committing war crimes in Gaza.
A Zionist Federation spokesman said: "The Bloomsbury Theatre has decided they should impose censorship on what people should be allowed to see. We agreed to remove the soldiers' act from the bill but even then the theatre was against the whole thing." He added it was hypocritical that other London theatres staged pro-Palestinian productions. Peter Cadley, director of the Bloomsbury Theatre, said: "We took the booking on the understanding it was going to be an entertainment event.
"We received assurances to that effect and then we spotted on the website about the IDF. This was against the spirit of the agreement so we decided to cancel." Mr Cadley agreed "in some regards" their decision could be seen as censorship. There were also concerns anti-Israel protesters would turn up. A show at Bloomsbury last Wednesday with Israeli musician Idan Raichel went ahead as scheduled.
Chris Doyle, chairman of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: "We should not be permitting a dance troupe from an army under a UN investigation for possible war crimes to be coming to the UK."
Lior Ben Dor, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy, said: "It is an artistic event, not a political one."
Reader views (10)
If you havent been to Israel then you will not see for yourself, clearly visible in the big cities, the hundreds of thousands of residents from Asia, in particular, China, Thai, Phillipines, India.
Muslims are not treated equally in the UK either, didnt we just arrest 12 the other day and then release them with no charge and then say, lets deport them anyway. Isn't there endless patronising headlines everyday about Islam in the UK, like, Muslims dislike the Met police advert, they find it offensive. I would feel a bit uncomfortable if every day this is in my face.
To make these stupid statements about Israel about it's the most racist in this or that, clearly grabbed out of the air. Is just fashionable nonsense based on headlines.
Boycott Israel? ok so next time your ill, check where your medicine is from. Israel is huge in this industry, so why do you suggest to parkinson sufferers, or MS suffers that the medicine that is most typically prescribed in the UK, which is made in Israel, ought to be boycotted...
- Alan, London (NOT Jewish and has lived and worked in Israel and suffered NO racism - opposite in fact)
How about censoring the United Kingdom? We have killed tens of thousands of people in the last sixty years - in Aden, Suez, Kenya, Palestine, Iraq, Falklands, Borneo, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Korea, Bosnia, Serbia & etc etc......far more than Israel or the apartheid regime.....
Or is it only Jews that you people have a problem with?
- Ricky, Hackney, London
Censorship - How very very sad.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke
The most racist country in the world - one that practises a form of apartheid that even the South Africans stopped short of - is Israel. But pointing out Israel's war crimes and its racism is regarded as "anti-semitic" - even though the only Semites living in that region are the Palestinians, the Israelis being Russian Ashkenazi immigrants. Everyone knows this, but no one is allowed to tell the truth.
- Neil, London, London UK
Members of the so-called Israel Defence Force are members of a military organisation mired in sixty years of atrocities against Palestinian civilians, seen most recently in the massacres in Gaza.
Israel deserves to be boycotted in the same way that apartheid South Africa was. Israel is a racist, sectarian settler state, and these 'entertainments' are just an attempt to sanitize the ugly reality.
- Jo, London
It seems every month there is a new play by a Palestinian group or Pro-Palestinian writer in a London Theatre. However the idea of a few Israeli dancers, is met with protests. This really shows the terrible racism that has infected the media and chattering classes in this country.
- Adam, London
when ULC loved russia,u couldnt move for red army/navy/airforce/marine bands singer etc.shows how anti semetic the politicos are. i bet if it was a palastinian group, we would have so much media attention you would want to be sick.
- Mikeee, peterborough uk
This is unacceptable racism, pure and simple.
- Matt, London, UK
I doubt there is a country on the planet that has not been accused at some time of some horrible crime in some place. Certainly the UK and the US would be near the top of any such list. Does that mean that patriotic singing, no matter how saccharine, should be subject to prohibition? We have watched Chinese acrobats and Russian circuses with delight. Or is there a double standard when it comes to Israel?
- Bloke, London
This is the same UCL who were quite happy to have a radical Muslim give a speech for the Muslim 'students' their.
UCL should have all public funding withdrawn.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
