Tuesday, November 18, 2014

New York Times Editorial, "Horror in Israel": Material for a New Opera by John Adams?

Writing of yesterday's murder of four men praying in a West Jerusalem synagogue (three held dual American/Israeli citizenship, while the fourth held dual British/Israeli citizenship) and of an Israeli policeman who came to defend them, The New York Times declares in an editorial entitled "Horror in Israel":

"There is no comprehending the murder of four men, including three rabbis, at a synagogue complex in a neighborhood of West Jerusalem on Tuesday."

Indeed, there is no comprehending this horror.

Yet The New York Times wrote in a September 19th editorial entitled "The Met Opera Stands Firm" and subtitled "‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ Must Go On":

"Protesting groups are demanding that the production be scrapped, contending the opera is anti-Semitic in depicting the 1985 murder of Leon Klinghoffer by Palestinian terrorists who seized a Mediterranean cruise ship and threw Mr. Klinghoffer and his wheelchair overboard after shooting him.

Music critics and opera lovers have found the opera, by John Adams, moving and nuanced in imagining a tragedy that gives voice to all sides, from the ruthless and aggrieved terrorists to Mr. Klinghoffer, an innocent Jewish-American who makes some of the opera’s most powerful points in denouncing violence as a political tool.

The Met should not have yielded to its critics, including Mr. Klinghoffer’s daughters, earlier this year when Mr. Gelb canceled live broadcasts of the opera in movie theaters around the world because of what he saw as 'rising anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe.'"

How can The New York Times describe "The Death of Klinghoffer" as "moving and nuanced in imagining a tragedy that gives voice to all sides," yet denounce yesterday's murder of Jews engaged in prayer as incomprehensible?

Perhaps Adams should write a new opera about this abomination, again giving voice to all sides.

A double standard? You bet. Shame on the editorial board of the Times!

2 comments:

  1. CNN makes the editorial board at NYT look pro-Israel in comparison. It was shocking to see CNN reporting:"Deadly Attack on Jerusalem Mosque".
    'Mosque", 'synagogue'...what difference does it make?
    Good think someone had the sense to record it:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ej8VsYvlKw

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  2. It was more painful to watch Dennis Ross Tuesday night, on PBS, trying to be politically correct on the source of "incitement" and "demonization" - he swallowed naming names - I wanted him to explode on screen with the truth about the bogus claim islam has on Jerusalem.

    One news program (channel-flipping memory loss) showed an aerial map of Jeruselam that made it quite clear this was a targeted attack once you saw how far away this synagogue was from the Temple Mount.

    As for opera? All I could think of was Mel Gibson in "The Patriot" with his Cherokee hatchet...inspiring those barbarians with hatchets made from Damascus steel?

    Just hope Christian Bale's upcoming Moses does not inspire riots in Cairo...

    Enough!

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