Do as we say, not as we did

Seth J. Frantzman
Terra Incognita/JPost
07 September '10

The anger directed at the inauguration of a new cultural center in Ariel with cultural figures announcing a boycott, is motivated more by the subconscious knowledge of their misdeeds than by the moral consciousness they preach. In projecting their past onto contemporary Israel, they seek to burden those born today with their own inner demons.

Last month, more than 60 actors and theater professionals announced that they will not perform at the new cultural center. Their boycott was followed by a petition of the usual suspects of far-left academics, artists and writers, who decided to voice their support for the actors. The cultural figures wrote that “we will not take part in any kind of cultural activity beyond the Green Line... We support the theater artists refusing to play in Ariel, express our appreciation of their public courage and thank them for bringing the debate on settlements back into the headlines.”

What they really mean is that they won’t take part in any activity in Jewish places beyond the Green Line; some of them actively support cultural endeavors among the Palestinian populace there. The complainers include most of the country’s best-known writers and intellectuals, as well as the fringe anti-Israel academics who garner the most attention abroad – Amos Oz, Shlomo Sand, David Grossman, Ilana Hammerman (editor at Am Oved), Neve Gordon, Oren Yiftachel, Anat Biletzki and Ze’ev Sternhell.

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