This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/death-of-klinghoffer-protest-new-york-metropolitan-opera

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
With the Death of Klinghoffer, niche protest meets a niche art form With the Death of Klinghoffer, niche protest meets a niche art form
(21 days later)
Last weekend 400,000 people walked down the street three blocks from my house as part of the People’s Climate March. A day later, in the same neighbourhood, a much smaller number gathered with placards outside Lincoln Centre to champion a different cause, more divisive in New York than climate change. This was a protest against the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams’s opera based on the 1985 hijacking of an Italian cruise ship by the Palestine Liberation Front and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound passenger. The Met had already cancelled a simulcast of the opera , but the show, part of the new season that opened on Monday, will go on.Last weekend 400,000 people walked down the street three blocks from my house as part of the People’s Climate March. A day later, in the same neighbourhood, a much smaller number gathered with placards outside Lincoln Centre to champion a different cause, more divisive in New York than climate change. This was a protest against the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams’s opera based on the 1985 hijacking of an Italian cruise ship by the Palestine Liberation Front and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound passenger. The Met had already cancelled a simulcast of the opera , but the show, part of the new season that opened on Monday, will go on.
The protesters, with some of the men dressed in suits and ties and several in wheelchairs, held placards that read, “The Met Opera Glorifies Terrorism” and “Shame on Peter Gelb” – the Met’s general manager. On the New York Times letters page, Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan 12 years ago, added an elegant voice to the protest.The protesters, with some of the men dressed in suits and ties and several in wheelchairs, held placards that read, “The Met Opera Glorifies Terrorism” and “Shame on Peter Gelb” – the Met’s general manager. On the New York Times letters page, Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan 12 years ago, added an elegant voice to the protest.
There is no justification for banning the opera; even the Anti-Defamation League conceded that it is not antisemitic while arguing, with baffling logic, that it might be used as “a vehicle to promote antisemitism”. CBS reported one of the protesters as saying: “I mean, what are we going to do next down the line? Have an opera about Isis?” Well, we have a play about Tamburlaine.There is no justification for banning the opera; even the Anti-Defamation League conceded that it is not antisemitic while arguing, with baffling logic, that it might be used as “a vehicle to promote antisemitism”. CBS reported one of the protesters as saying: “I mean, what are we going to do next down the line? Have an opera about Isis?” Well, we have a play about Tamburlaine.
The Met’s line, that dramatising terrorism isn’t the same thing as condoning it, is right. Still, I had sympathy for those standing outside, given the timing of the show, which falls after a season of attacks on Jews as proxies for Israel. These are sensitive times. The only consolation might be that the very medium its detractors say dignifies the crime – opera – will also limit its audience. With tickets going for up to $220 each, the vast majority of New Yorkers will never see Klinghoffer anyway.The Met’s line, that dramatising terrorism isn’t the same thing as condoning it, is right. Still, I had sympathy for those standing outside, given the timing of the show, which falls after a season of attacks on Jews as proxies for Israel. These are sensitive times. The only consolation might be that the very medium its detractors say dignifies the crime – opera – will also limit its audience. With tickets going for up to $220 each, the vast majority of New Yorkers will never see Klinghoffer anyway.
It’s still junkIt’s still junk
I’m on an Upper West Side community mailing list, which serves as a useful reminder about human nature. Mainly, that it doesn’t matter how much money you make, there’s always an imperative to make more. Daily emails come in from people living in multimillion-dollar apartments who are trying to flog a used Cuisinart blender or a second-hand breast pump. Buying a Vitamix recently, I went with a friend to a $4m apartment (we looked it up afterwards) where the elevator opened straight into the living room. It looked like the apartment in American Psycho. The owner hauled out said blender and then, from the back of the cupboard, a beaten up old colander with a stray piece of noodle still stuck to the rim. “Do you want this, too?” she said. “Ten bucks.” Perhaps that’s the kind of hustle it takes to get to the penthouse. I’m on an Upper West Side community mailing list, which serves as a useful reminder about human nature. Mainly, that it doesn’t matter how much money you make, there’s always an imperative to make more. Daily emails come in from people living in multimillion-dollar apartments who are trying to flog a used Cuisinart blender or a second-hand breast pump. Buying a Vitamix recently, I went with a friend to a $4m apartment (we looked it up afterwards) where the elevator opened straight into the living room. It looked like the apartment in American Psycho. The owner hauled out said blender and then, from the back of the cupboard, a beaten up old colander with a stray piece of noodle still stuck to the rim. “Do you want this, too?” she said. “Ten bucks.” Perhaps that’s the kind of hustle it takes to get to the penthouse.
American treasuresAmerican treasures
So many reasons to love Neil Diamond, but to name just a few: the triangular hair; the glittery suits; the dreamy synth opening of Love on the Rocks. When he and Marcia, his wife, divorced in 1996, Diamond gave her half his net worth without even going to court. “I’m happy to do it,” he said. “She’s been with me through thick and thin. I wish her all the happiness $150m can bring.” (There was the small issue of his alleged affair with a “rodeo cowgirl”, but nobody’s perfect.)So many reasons to love Neil Diamond, but to name just a few: the triangular hair; the glittery suits; the dreamy synth opening of Love on the Rocks. When he and Marcia, his wife, divorced in 1996, Diamond gave her half his net worth without even going to court. “I’m happy to do it,” he said. “She’s been with me through thick and thin. I wish her all the happiness $150m can bring.” (There was the small issue of his alleged affair with a “rodeo cowgirl”, but nobody’s perfect.)
Diamond appeared this week in Flatbush, his old neighbourhood in Brooklyn, to play a pop-up gig at his high school, which Barbra Streisand also attended. He was promoting his new album, Melody Road; Streisand is at the top of the US album charts with Partners. Barry Manilow must be sweating bullets.Diamond appeared this week in Flatbush, his old neighbourhood in Brooklyn, to play a pop-up gig at his high school, which Barbra Streisand also attended. He was promoting his new album, Melody Road; Streisand is at the top of the US album charts with Partners. Barry Manilow must be sweating bullets.
All these people have been through their decades of being out in the cold to emerge the other side as national treasures. Diamond’s live version of Coming to America, in which he wears a blue sequined shirt and sports fiercer sideburns than Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, needs to be watched on a regular basis. It’s the end of the week; go on, treat yourself. All these people have been through their decades of being out in the cold to emerge the other side as national treasures. Diamond’s live version of Coming to America, in which he wears a blue sequined shirt and sports fiercer sideburns than Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, needs to be watched on a regular basis. It’s the end of the week; go on, treat yourself.