TORONTO — Famed Canadian actor R.H. Thomson last week defended his
decision to take part in readings put on by Crow’s Theatre of the
controversial play Seven Jewish Children at Toronto’s Theatre Passe
Muraille on May 17.
Actor Defends Play
TORONTO — Famed Canadian actor R.H. Thomson last week defended his
decision to take part in readings put on by Crow’s Theatre of the
controversial play Seven Jewish Children at Toronto’s Theatre Passe
Muraille on May 17. “Discussion, dialogue, talk, conversation is what
is needed, and this play is sparking that,” Thomson told the Globe and
Mail, adding he doesn’t see himself on one side or the other of the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute. B’nai Brith Canada said the 10-minute
play, by Briton Caryn Churchill, is anti-Semitic because it depicts
Israeli Jews as “bloodthirsty aggressors and child killers.” It wanted
the play pulled from the city-owned theatre.
CIJA Urges Protest
TORONTO — The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) is urging Canadian Jews to protest a conference at York University that CIJA says will “explore a one-state, bi-national solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians… which would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish state.” CIJA CEO Hershell Ezrin said the event will add to the tense climate at York on this issue. “Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace” runs June 22-24. Ezrin said the presence of “a few balanced speakers of high repute” won’t be “enough to characterize the conference as one of high academic integrity.”
Sculptor Resigns
TORONTO — A Toronto sculptor has resigned from the board and the arts advisory committee of the Koffler Centre for the Arts to protest its decision earlier this month to break ties with an anti-Zionist artist who supports Israeli Apartheid Week. Yvonne Singer, an associate professor of fine arts at York University, said in a letter of resignation that the move compromises freedom of expression, the Toronto Star reported. Artist Reena Katz got $20,000 from Koffler for an exhibit about Toronto’s Kensington Market that opened in the market last week. Part of the Luminato arts festival, it will continue through July 26, but Koffler will no longer promote it. Centre officials said they didn’t know about Katz’s views when she got funding, but she says her views were well-known.