Addressing the controversy that preceded his May 9 Toronto appearance, American Jewish playwright Tony Kushner accused UJA Federation of Greater Toronto of trying to silence discussion about Israeli policy and the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
Speaking in conversation with Canadian theatre director Philip Akin before an audience of about 600 people at the Panasonic Theatre, Kushner criticized the federation for disassociating itself from his talk – which was presented by one of federation’s beneficiary agencies, the Koffler Centre for the Arts – because Kushner advises a group that supports the BDS movement against Israel.
Kushner told Akin: “My opinions about the situation in the Middle East are pretty middle of the road. I’m not extreme in any way, so it’s hugely depressing to think that somebody with the level of criticism I voiced about the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces or the Israeli government should cause this kind of alarm and consternation…To say we can’t have discussions about issues like BDS…anyone who believes that that makes Israel safer is a fool. Silence is the surest way to weaken policy.”
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Kushner, whose body of work includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes and the screenplays for Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film Munich and 2012 film Lincoln, also said he believes the federation “has no business dictating how the recipients of its philanthropy spend their money as long as they’re staying true to their mission… that seems to me a violation of its role.”
In March, in response to criticism after its logo appeared on an ad for the Kushner event, identifying it as a Koffler sponsor, the federation released a statement distancing itself from the talk because Kushner is on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that supports BDS.
The federation said that although Kushner himself “has publicly stated that he does not support the BDS movement, UJA Federation has concerns about [his] association with JVP, and we will not support an event where there is any link to organizations supporting BDS.”
The statement emphasized that the federation remains “strongly supportive of the Koffler Centre for the Arts.”
Kushner responded to the federation’s statement in an interview with the Globe and Mail published May 8, in which he accused the federation of “McCarthyism” and referred to its distancing itself from the event as a “smear campaign.”
He added that he was “really disgusted by what [the federation] did and I’m very angry about it… It’s depressing that even in Canada this kind of censorious, illiberal and really disgraceful behaviour is seen as acceptable.”
At the Toronto event, Kushner mostly fielded questions about theatre and his experiences as a playwright and screenwriter, but he spent several minutes responding to Akin’s question about what Akin called “the controversy.”
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Kushner prefaced his answer by saying that as a gay Jewish man who grew up in the American South in the 1960s when the civil rights movement was “reaching its apogee,” he’s always felt a responsibility to “say the truth.”
While he stressed that he doesn’t consider himself an expert on the “Israeli-Palestinian crisis,” he said it’s an issue he’s thought a lot about, and that when people ask him about it, he feels, “a moral obligation that comes directly from the ethical teachings I received as a young Jewish kid to tell the truth as I see it and engage in discussion.”
Kushner said that “in Israel, the [room for] debate is infinitely greater.”
He added: “The UJA, in deciding that this event was too dangerous for Jews to listen to, is upholding a fantasy version of the State of Israel and a fantasy version of Israeli policy.”
In response to Kushner comments in Toronto, federation president and CEO Morris Zbar said: “We refuse to offer a platform to anyone affiliated with an organization endorsing BDS, which aims for the destruction of the State of Israel. Mr. Kushner sits on the advisory board of a leading BDS organization in the United States. That is his right. And UJA has the right to affirm our fundamental principles and reject BDS in all of its forms.”
He added: “UJA never attempted to silence Mr. Kushner. Quite the opposite, we strongly believe that he has a right to voice his opinion and we have never suggested otherwise.”