Jun 12, 2017

On May 30, various playwrights, directors and other artists announced their withdrawal from the Acre Festival of Alternative Theater, in which they were scheduled to take part in October 2017, following the organizers’ decision to ban the play “Prisoners of the Occupation” by Einat Weitzman. Their boycott of the play is another stage in the culture war being waged in Israel in recent years. The ban was not the result of a direct order by Culture Minister Miri Regev, who since taking office in 2015 has made it her practice to intervene in the contents of publicly funded events. But her activities have clearly created a threatening climate that limits free expression and leads theaters to practice self-censorship so as not to clash with her and endanger their funding.

The Israeli Actors Union called on all its 2,300 members not to take part in the festival and not to fill in for the artists who have withdrawn in protest. Theater actors throughout Israel have read statements of support to their audiences at the end of performances: “We support our fellow creators in their move and call on you to protect freedom of expression in the State of Israel.”

“Prisoners of the Occupation,” based on real stories and letters by Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, was presented to the festival’s steering committee for review by the event’s artistic director, Avi Gibson Bar-El. Over the years, the committee has steered clear of intervening in the contents of the festival, sticking to administrative issues. This year, its members — representatives of Acre municipality, government officials and former festival directors — voted to remove the play from the program. Last year, the festival featured Weitzman's play “Palestine, Year Zero,” about Palestinians whose homes had been demolished by Israel. Its star, Palestinian actor George Ibrahim, was chosen as the festival’s best actor. In an interview with Al-Monitor at the time, he said he felt it was his duty to participate because “Jews don’t see and aren’t interested in the other side.”

Last year, Regev had demanded that Weitzman’s play be banned, claiming that “no country, not even the State of Israel, would fund performances that undermine its existence.” The play nonetheless went on. This year, the steering committee did Regev’s job for her. All she had to do was jeer at the playwright and suggest that she put on her play in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah rather than in Israel.

One of Israel’s top playwrights, Yehoshua Sobol, also canceled his participation in the festival with the play “Shkulim.” In a conversation with Al-Monitor, Sobol said, “The fact that last year a play with George Ibrahim was performed and this year there’s such a major fuss proves we are on a dangerous slippery slope. This isn’t even censorship. This is throwing out a creator’s play without even seeing it, simply because of the subject matter and because it involved Einat Weitzman.” Sobol said the steering committee that disqualified the play did not even read its synopsis. “The minute you ban a subject, you bring down an iron curtain on an entire part of our lives that cannot be touched or talked about,” he added.