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| | Email this article • Print this article | Political theater, Act 1
Troupe’s J Street gig panned and praised
by Debra Rubin
Editor
Is it OK for a Jewish theater group to take part in a conference hosted by an organization with a political agenda?
Yes, says Theater J, which has signed on to participate in J Street's conference later this month.
No, says an ad hoc committee protesting Theater J's involvement.
Maybe, says the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington - so long as participation is not an endorsement of the organization's policies.
As chair of the ad hoc COPMA - Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art - Potomac resident Robert Samet last week sent letters to board members of both the Washington DC Jewish Community Center and the federation, protesting Theater J's role in the conference, set for Oct. 25-28 in Washington, D.C.
He urged the WDCJCC board to "withdraw Theatre J's participation as a supporting organization in this conference" and asked federation board members to "prevail upon the DCJCC as a recipient of Federation funding to withdraw Theatre J's participation as a supporting organization in this conference."
Theater J, Samet contends, "is subverting its mission to promote culture in the Jewish community by advancing a political agenda."
The Washington DC Jewish Community Center's Theater J has been working with J Street to present a series of conference workshops on Culture as a Tool for Change. They will focus on popular media, the spoken word, storytelling, short film and documentary film. The conference's overall theme is Driving Change, Securing Peace.
"I truly don't think it's appropriate for any group that is receiving money from the D.C. federation to get involved in political activism," Samet said in an interview last week.
"Just because you give it a cultural coating doesn't mean it's not a form of political activism," he said, complaining that Theater J, by signing on as a participating organization for the conference, is endorsing J Street.
Asked whether they would object were Theater J to play a similar role in conferences held, for example, by the Zionist Organization of America or by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Samet and COPMA member Barbara Leber both said that they would.
"I don't think an arts group should be involved in any political program," Leber said.
In response to the letter, the WDCJCC issued a statement: "Theater J and the Washington DCJCC do not engage in legislative or political advocacy and our participation should not be construed as an endorsement or sponsorship of other aspects of the conference or of J Street's programs and policies."
In an interview, Josh Ford, the WDCJCC's chief program officer, said Theater J has "expertise in culture as an agent for change and I don't see [its participation as] being out of the bounds of what their mission is. ... What we're on board with is an ongoing conversation about Israel that we explore through the arts. That's the only thing we're on board with."
Participation does not imply endorsement, agreed J Street spokesperson Amy Spitalnick.
The federation has not issued its own statement, but Susie Gelman, president, said, "The federation appreciates the JCC statement clarifying their participation in the conference. They have clarified they are not endorsing the policies of J Street."
Among the policies that concerned COPMA were J Street's criticism of the Gaza war and its position against harsher sanctions on Iran. This week, The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli embassy spokesperson Yoni Peled as saying that J Street advocates policies that could "impair Israel's interests."
Theater J artistic director Ari Roth defends his role in the conference, noting that it is not unusual for Theater J to offer forums and outreach programs that explore the theatrical, psychological and social elements of art.
He said, for example, that Theater J has been working with United Jewish Communities/Jewish Federations of North America to present "Strolling Characters from Modern Israeli History," during next month's General Assembly, and that he's been holding discussions at various synagogues. Theater J also has partnered with the American Jewish Committee, Israeli embassy and the federation, among others.
"We're involved in J Street's conference not because of its political agenda, but because of its spirited commitment to culture as a tool for energizing discussion and transformation in our Jewish community," Roth said in an e-mail.
In an interview this week, Roth said that he had initially approached J Street asking to be on a panel on storytelling. "One thing led to another," Roth said, and the cultural track evolved.
He doesn't believe that Theater J's participation should be viewed as any kind of endorsement of J Street's policies, but "I think it's a model for many conferences."
"I would be at AIPAC in a minute if they asked me," Roth said.
"We'd love to do programs all over the spectrum," Ford said.
Theater J is among 19 groups listed on J Street's Web site as participating in the conference. Among the others are One Voice, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Americans for Peace Now, the Jewish Agency for Israel's Masa/Israel Journey and the Workmen's Circle.
Spitalnick said that participating organizations "essentially agree to help recruit for the conference."
"They think it will interest their members, and we think it will interest their members," she said, adding that "they have some sort of venue at the conference where attendees can learn what they do and how it relates to the pro-Israel, pro-peace community."
Earlier this year, Theater J found itself on the defensive when it staged a reading of Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, a 10-minute play by Caryl Churchill that describes how Jewish parents teach their children about the Jewish state and the Gaza war, and was seen as an indictment of Israel, Israelis and their attitudes toward Palestinians.
"The play does everything it can to delegitimize Israel," Samet said at the time. "It is, in fact, precisely the Palestinian narrative."
Theater J staged Seven Children in conjunction with two pieces written in reaction to it: Seven Palestinian Children by playwright Deb Margolin and The Eighth Child by Robbie Gringras, artist in residence at Makom, Jewish Agency for Israel.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Article comment by:
elaine reuben
Who or what is "COPMA," other than two individuals whose complaints and opinions you quote, and why should so much attention be given them? Whom do they represent, and what is their purpose?
I cannot find a website, mission statement, list of officers, address at which to contact or respond. There certainly are responses to make to what seems a vision of art without connection to our world, including all its complexities and controversies that might even be considered
"political."
One can, however, easily find Theater J. It has been an important locus of thoughtful theater in Washington for years.It offers our community multiple opportunities around its productions (including the reading of "Seven Jewish Children") for learning and feedback, intelligent sharing and civil discussion. That is what it will be doing in the so-called Culture Track at the J Street Conference: seems worth applause, not attack.
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