Ynetnews sheds more light on the situation by asking a number of Israeli choreographers what their experience has been with Dance Europe.
A year and a half ago Dan Rudolph, general manager of the Kibbutz Dance Company, was asked to publish a condemnation when he wanted to place an ad for dance auditions.
“I received a letter from the magazine that demanded a written declaration against the policy of occupation, and I got really angry. I called up Naresh Kaul, who had signed the letter, and I told him that our opinions of Israeli policy are none of their. I am a leftist and I oppose the occupation and the separation fence, but I still don’t think my views are relevant for publication in a professional magazine.�
What’s been interesting in all this coverage is how it seems that every Israeli interviewed is against the occupation. Where they differ is whether they want to mix politics and dance and whether they think the Dance Europe policy is a problem or not.
The issue is moving up the ranks.
Israeli Choreographer’s Assocation CEO Sigalit Gelfand said in response: “We see it as a serious matter that a cultural magazine sets political conditions that are completely unrelated to the (professional) issue. We intend to approach the British Embassy in Israel and to demand a thorough examination of this matter.
And so far:
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it had approached the British Embassy and asked for a response on the issue, and that it had asked the Israeli Embassy in London to investigate the legal ramifications of the issue, and whether non-governmental organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League might have a role to play.
Stay tuned.
Third in the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRyx5Kyv_vg
March 23rd, 2006 at 5:43 am
Whatever way your political / ethical sympathies lie there is another principle at stake here. There is no point in complaining to the goverment of a country in which media is domiciled. Freedom from state control of the press is a necessity in all democracies. For the British government to impose censorship on Dance Europe would render no better than pariah states like Zimbabwe who throttle the media’s freedom of speech. Like children, the best strategy is to ignore the infantile behaviour of Dance Europe’s editorial inner circle and not to satisfy their overinflated egos by lavishing our attention on them.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:03 am
While the magazine’s behavior may be arguably naive, they wield more power in the world, at least our artist world, than do most children. Ignoring them might deflate their egos and their steam to uphold their stance, but it could just as likely turn out to be a sin of omission that allows sick seeds to grow. I (an American) tend to agree that the state of Great Britain ought not censor the magazine, although I don’t know if my sweetheart (a German) whose country has strict rules about published work that suggests anti-Semitism, would agree. That said, history shows that ignoring large public displays of bigotry often doesn’t really “achieve peace in our time.” I like the suggestion of one of the Ynet responses enough to quote it: “You cannot stop them, but you can expose them…You cannot always beat the bad person, but you can embarass the hell out of him.”