New York – Rabbi Avi Weiss Leads Vigil Outside Met To Protest Opera

    4

    Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks during a demonstration across from Lincoln Center and the New York Metropolitan Opera in New York, October 20, 2014. REUTERSNew York – A prominent New York rabbi led a prayer vigil outside the Metropolitan Opera on Monday ahead of the premiere of “The Death of Klinghoffer,” which opponents say glorifies Palestinian terrorists.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    Teenagers from Jewish faith-based schools joined Rabbi Avi Weiss in a makeshift prayer spot opposite the Met. They discussed Hebrew scriptures in shifts of about a dozen throughout the day.

    An evening rally was also planned, with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Gov. George Pataki and two U.S. congressmen among those expected to take part.

    The opera is based on the 1985 murder of a disabled Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, on the Achille Lauro, an Italian cruise ship hijacked by four members of the Palestinian Liberation Front. The 69-year-old New York retiree was shot in his wheelchair and pushed overboard.

    Organizers plan to bring 100 symbolic wheelchairs to the rally at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. The premiere was scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

    The Met already has canceled its planned November movie theater and radio broadcasts of American composer John Adams’ 1991 work amid pressure from Jewish groups — especially the Anti-Defamation League — whose members say the music romanticizes Klinghoffer’s killers, along with the opening “Chorus of Exiled Palestinians.”

    Met General Manager Peter Gelb warned that the broadcasts could trigger anti-Semitism overseas.

    But opera expert Fred Plotkin says the work depicts the Klinghoffers as the moral backbone.

    “Does this opera present the killers in a favorable light? No,” he says. “Are the Klinghoffers far and away the most sympathetic characters in the opera, the ones we care about most? I believe so.”

    The Klinghoffers’ daughters, Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer, issued a statement that will be included in the opera’s playbill, the ADL announced in a release.

    It says in part that while they believe the arts “can play a critical role in examining and understanding significant world events, ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ does no such thing. It presents false moral equivalencies without context, and offers no real insight into the historical reality and the senseless murder of an American Jew.

    “Our family was not consulted by the composer and librettist and had no role in the development of the opera,” the sisters added.

    The opera has been a lightning rod since February, when it was first scheduled for this season.

    The opposition is now reaching fever pitch, with word spreading that protesters may try to disrupt Monday’s performance.

    It’s the second large New York demonstration against the work since the Met’s Sept. 22 season opening night, when protesters carried signs that read “Klinghoffer Opera/Propaganda Masquerading as Art” and jeered at arriving spectators.

    Plotkin said many “Klinghoffer” opponents have never seen the work.

    The Met is advertising it with the slogan: “See it. Then decide.”

    “The Death of Klinghoffer” first premiered in Brussels in 1991, with little controversy, then in various European cities as well as at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where it was greeted with both praise and anger — especially from Klinghoffer’s two daughters.

    “The Death of Klinghoffer” runs through Nov. 15 at the Met.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    4 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Adddd
    Adddd
    9 years ago

    Opening a opera that glorifies terrorists is a big sin one that can’t be forgiven

    9 years ago

    When the terrorists responsible for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro were permitted to leave Egypt on an EgyptAir 737, the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak. denied any knowledge of their whereabouts. Fortunately, the plane carrying the terrorists was forced down by US fighter jets, where it landed at a NATO base in Italy. I wish that it had been blown out of the sky, as that would have been instant justice for the terrorists. Instead, there was a standoff at the NATO base; the Italian government took charge, and let one of the terrorists go. The others received prison sentences, but all have since been released. I could never understand why the Achille Lauro could not have been located by the Delta Force and Navy Seals, while the terrorists were at sea? In any event, Mrs. Klinghoffer, spit in the face of the terrorists, when she identified them to the authorities.

    Shimon
    Shimon
    9 years ago

    Where is Mel Brooks when we need him? When a chorus sang “Springtime for Hitler” in “The Producers,” it was satire. This is the real deal. A scary, scary shanda.

    naisgal
    naisgal
    9 years ago

    Callous, insensitive, and art(?) used for PR only is what this is about. I hope the singers get hoarse from their participating in a hateful play which is so painful to the family. Go enjoy, you free speech ( gimme a break) Met goers, there is an actual word in German for people who enjoy another’s humiliation. We do not have such a comparable word in English, yet, but may need it soon.