On October 21, 1985, before a crowded sanctuary of mourners at the funeral of Leon Klinghoffer, in Temple Shaarei Tefila of Manhattan, Rabbi Harvey Tattlebaum spoke of his murder as a “Holocaust of one.” He also spoke about the need for people to fight against the disease of terrorism and against the Palestine Liberation Organization. The next speaker, a childhood friend of Klinghoffer arose and stated that the “death of this one man shattered the lie of the PLO.”
Twenty-nine years later that fight against the PLO and its lies continues.
Remember: music was also played in Auschwitz.
The Metropolitan Opera production of The Death of Klinghoffer is now murdering the memory of Klinghoffer by spreading lies and distortions about Israel in his name.
As ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ opens on October 20, some will attend the production to be entertained by scenes that will glorify genocidal acts of Arab terrorists, but others will also gather there to protest and remind the world of the need to fight the threat of Arab terror. The advertisement for the upcoming protest against the premier states, “We are all Leon Klinghoffer.” Indeed, the forces of radical Islamic terror threaten all.
If decent people speak out, the murder of Leon Klinghoffer will not be fodder for those who distort the history of Israel and justify terror. If they attend the protest, the world will be reminded that there is not an open license for art which glorifies terror, that there are limitations.
Would the fanatics of high culture attend an opera defending Klansmen who lynched African Americans in the old Jim Crow South? Certainly not! But attacking the very existence of a nation by giving credence to the lies of its enemies is open game.
Remember: music was also played in Auschwitz.
The Death of Klinghoffer is another example of capitulation to political correctness; of not identifying the perpetrator out of the fear of offending, of hoping that the threat of Arab extremists can merely be dismissed, by showing snuff opera propaganda which numbs the senses where the perpetrator and the victim are confused with one another. The Murder of Klinghoffer demonstrates a loss of moral clarity.
The words, “Tear down this opera” were pronounced by actor Tony Lo Bianco toward Peter Gelb, director of the Metropolitan Opera, at the September 22nd., protest at the Metropolitan Opera against the opening of The Death of Klinghoffer, echoing the famous phrase of Ronald Reagan at the Berlin wall to Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
The scheduled opening of The Death of Klinghoffer is October 20, and protestors will be returning.
Jewish Day Schools, join the protest! Show your students by deed how to stand up for Am Yisrael. Congregational Rabbis, pick up the mantle and lead your congregations in protest to the Met.
On October 20, come to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street and Broadway in Manhattan at 6:00 p.m. and pay homage to the memory of Leon Klinghoffer. Awaken the slumberers from their sleep. Be a light unto the nations and speak truth to power! Show other freedom loving people that there can be no capitulation in the fight against forces of evil.