The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Corrie play cancelled in Canada

"My Name is Rachel Corrie" has been cancelled in Canada. No surprises as to why:

Jack Rose, from the CanStage board -- while admitting he has neither read nor seen the script -- said that "my view was it would provoke a negative reaction in the Jewish community."

And philanthropist Bluma Appel, after whom CanStage's flagship theater is named, concurred. "I told them I would react very badly to a play that was offensive to Jews."
I saw the play in New York -- where it had been moved from the original theater it was scheduled to play to the Mineta Lane Theater -- and don't see what was deemed offensive about it aside from that it brings attention to the plight of Palestinians and the murder of a pro-Palestinian activist.

But of course the power of the "lobby" is a figment of anti-Semitic imaginations.