The famed Metropolitan Opera is being accused of promoting propaganda and terrorism in its new production portraying the death of businessman Leon Klinghoffer, who was shot and killed by Palestinian Islamic terrorists aboard the Achille Lauro in 1985.
There already have been protests over the "The Death of Klinghoffer," and the Boston Symphony Orchestra canceled a scheduled performance because of claims the opera was sympathetic to Islamic terror.
A statement by Metropolitan Opera Director Peter Gelb calls the show composer John Adams' "greatest operatic composition." In a statement for the press he said the opera is "high art." WND calls requesting additional comment were not returned.
But Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, says there's no question about intent of the work.
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"It's absolutely insulting to have an opera promote propaganda and to use the arts to promote the terrorists' cause. It's even more insulting that this show would attempt to show a moral equivalence between the Israelis and the Palestinians," Cardoza-Moore said.
She calls it a "horrifying" production that glamorizes Palestinian terrorism.
"A group of terrorists took over the ship and openly shot and killed Leon Klinghoffer, a man who was paralyzed and in a wheelchair," she said. "There is no reasonable comparison between terrorists and the Israelis. This is especially true when the terrorists' victim was openly shot in the head. He was a handicapped Jewish American man."
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, president of the Israel Independence Fund, has organized protests for the Coalition to Stop the Klinghoffer Opera.
"It's a gross glorification of terrorism and a horrible attempt to bring about the moral equivalence between terrorists and all of Western civilization. We don't just need all Jews to be outraged by this, we need Christians, too," Wiesenfeld said.
Klinghoffer was the wheelchair-bound Jewish businessman who was shot to death and thrown from the Italian Achille Lauro cruise ship during a 1985 terrorist attack carried out by the Palestine Liberation Front.
One analyst suggested the terror attack was carried about because the Palestinian terrorists were motivated by visions of a rich lifestyle.
But others conclude the opera production simply reveals pro-Palestinian sympathies.
"The words in the show absolutely try to make the audience feel sympathy for the terrorists. Just read the libretto and you see how the music is presented. The words and music actually cause the audience members to feel compassion for the terrorists," Cardoza-Moore said.
The libretto by Alice Goodman opens with a child-like voice singing: "My father's house was razed in 1948 when the Israelis passed over our street."
Later in the program, a Palestinian character named Molqi claims, "We are men of ideas."
In an editorial, the New York Daily News said a "terrorist sings of how his father was decapitated in an infamous massacre in Lebanon."
"He intimates that Israelis committed the killings even though Christian Arabs had carried them out, a fact never related to the audience."
Cardoza-Moore noted a New York protest over the opera brought 2,000 people together.
"They canceled the production in London because of the protests and the fear of the spread of anti-Semitism. I'm hoping that the Metropolitan Opera will follow the example and lead of the London opera company," she said.
The New York Times, however, wrote that the "show must go on."
"The Met's board of directors and Peter Gelb, its general manager, are entirely correct in insisting the opera must proceed as planned next month," the Times editorial said.
But there have been signs that Cardoza-Moore views as positive.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus reported at JewishPress.com that the Anti-Defamation League met with the Metropolitan Opera about the production.
The Times of Israel then reported fear of rising anti-Semitism prompted the Met to cancel its worldwide radio simulcast of the production.
Other critics say that's not enough, and Cardoza-Moore said she sees an unfortunate symmetry with the production and Nazi Germany.
"It's the same as in the days of Hitler. Historically we know that Adolf Hitler used the arts to promote his Nazi and anti-Jewish agenda," she said. "It's unthinkable in a time when we're seeing a rising anti-Semitism around the world. Christians are being slaughtered worldwide and the Jews are being persecuted. Then we have the Metropolitan Opera allowing this production to go on."
Wiesenfeld is staying his course, with another rally planned for the opera's opening day, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Lincoln Center.
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