A Letter to Supporters of the Metropolitan Opera

HONORABLE Board Members of the Annenberg Foundation;

Wallis Annenberg, Chairman of the Board and CEO;

Charles Annenberg Weingarten, Vice President and Director;

Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, Vice President and Director,

Lauren Bon, Vice President and Director;

I am writing to you as major supporters of the venerable Metropolitan Opera in New York. I would like to share with you the concerns of many people regarding their production of "The Death of Klinghoffer" this fall in New York City.

This opera is based on the 1985 murder of 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer on the Achille Lauro cruise ship in the Mediterranean. A group of Palestinian terrorists hijacked the ship, murdered the 69 year old wheelchair-bound Jew point blank, and threw his body into the ocean. Klinghoffer had been celebrating his 36th wedding anniversary with his wife and 11 friends.

"The Death of Klinghoffer” condones this murder, and idealizes terrorism and violence against innocent victims. It portrays terrorists as victims, and victims as deserving of their fate. The libretto is replete with vile anti-Semitic wording. Here are a few examples:

"Wherever poor men are gathered, they can find Jews getting fat.

You know, how to cheat the simple, exploit the virgin, pollute where you have exploited, defame those you cheated, and break your own law with idolatry."

At one point, the terrorist leader says to Klinghoffer, "America is One Big Jew."

The opening scene is set against a backdrop of grafitti on a wall proclaiming,"Warsaw 1943, Bethlehem 2005,” implying a moral equivalence between the acts of the Nazis and current day Jews.

The Palestinians sing, “We are soldiers fighting a war. We are not criminals and we are not vandals but men of ideals.”

An excellent, short video titled "The Death of Klinghoffer - An Inappropriate'Opera'" has been produced by the organization Stand With Us. It illustrates the moral depravity of this opera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=zK60z5CFmfY&sns=tw

All attempts to convince Peter Gelb, general manager of the Met, to cancel this opera have fallen on deaf ears. As a result, major protests have been scheduled on opening night and every night of the performances. The dates and information about sponsors of the protests are posted on http://stopdeathofklinghoffer.com

Here is some information regarding the protests:

AFSI, JCC Watch, and ZOA, along with a coalition of concerned citizens, has been a part of the battle against the production of this shameful "opera" (propaganda piece) all summer long. We are pleased that former Congressman Allen West has joined us in this fight to stop terrorism from being glorified in one of our most esteemed institutions, the Metropolitan Opera House.

The HD showings, as well as the radio simulcasts, have been cancelled, acknowledging that such propaganda might set off anti-Jewish demonstrations world-wide.

Unfortunately, Peter Gelb and company must have assumed that pro-terrorism and anti-Semitism could be tolerated in NYC. because the live performances are still scheduled to proceed beginning this October.

Fortunately, wise and moral decision makers at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC saw fit to cancel a scheduled preview. We continue to prevail upon Peter Gelb, Managing Director of the Met, to cancel the productions. Continue to call and email him:212-799-3100x2891; [email protected]
We are inviting Congressman Allen West to join the demonstrations with a roster of VIP's at the rally on September 22 beginning at 5 pm, directly across from Lincoln Center.

In summation, "The "Death of Klinghoffer" is a virulently anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist opera.

We ask that the honorable members of the Board of the Annenberg Foundation review the information provided here and much more available in the media, and reconsider your support of an institution which produces this sort of hateful propaganda, which some people, especially survivors of the horrors of WWII, find to be reminiscent of the anti-Semitic propaganda literature of Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany.

Thank you very much,

Evelyn Shulman

Journalist

NYC

PLEASE SEE PROTEST AD BELOW

JEWISH COMMUNITY ACTION ALERT !

Join 9/11 Victims and Families in Protesting the Pro-Terrorist Klinghoffer Opera

Nationwide Rally
Monday September 22nd at 5pm
Lincoln Center
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023

Monday, September 22, 5 - 7 p.m. Opening night of opera season. Major rally to protest Klinghoffer opera

Oct 20 Opening night of Klinghoffer opera. Protest featuring a Caravan of 190 Wheelchairs for Leon Klinghoffer

Wednesday October 29 (Death of Klinghoffer performance protest)
Wednesday November 5 (Death of Klinghoffer performance protest)
Saturday night November 8 (Death of Klinghoffer performance protest)
Tuesday November 11 (Death of Klinghoffer performance protest)

For more information see www.stopdeathofklinghoffer.com

When high society starts demonizing the Jews, these are the consequences...
CLICK HERE

Read the Pro-Terrorist and Anti-Semitic libretto for yourself:

America
Is one big Jew….

You are always complaining
Of your suffering
But wherever poor men
Are gathered they can
Find Jews getting fat.
You know how to cheat
The simple, exploit
The virgin, pollute
Where you have exploited
Defame those you cheated,
And break your own law
With idolatry.

Note: The above is a letter I emailed to the four members of the Board of Directors of the Annenberg Foundation. This foundation is one of the chief supporters of the Met Opera. They give the Met over a million dollars a year.

Write your letters to them protesting the Klinghoffer opera. The more letters they receive, the greater the chance that they will pressure the Met to cancel this opera.

There are four board members

Wallis Annenberg, Chairman of the Board and CEO;

Charles Annenberg Weingarten, Vice President and Director;

Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, Vice President and Director,

Lauren Bon, Vice President and Director;

Email addresses:: (just paste into your To: box)

[email protected]

[email protected],

[email protected]

The three people who head the Met:

Peter Gelb, General Manager [email protected]

James Levine, Music Director [email protected]