NY Times Weighs in on "The Death of Klinghoffer" - Ignores Anti-Semitic Lyrics - Describes Terrorists as "Aggrieved" and the Murder as a "Tragedy" Friends,
If you find the New York Times to be a friend of Israel and the Jewish people, and if you trust its Editorial Board's opinion, then this editorial from the Times applauding the New York Metropolitan Opera for going ahead with the Klinghoffer Opera in the face of protests that it is an anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist propaganda screed, will be welcome. "The Met Opera Stands Firm, 'The Death of Klinghoffer' Must Go On"
But if you know the New York Times for what it is, a consistently biased, anti-Israel publication that routinely soft-pedals terrorism, devalues its victims and, much like the Klinghoffer Opera, falsely depicts the perpetrators of terrorism as freedom fighters, then you will find the Times Editorial strangely comforting and confirmatory of the need for the Protest against the opera on Monday at Lincoln Center to not only go on, but also be strengthened. Note how the editorial describes the opera as "moving and nuanced in imagining a tragedy that gives voice to all sides...." A horrendous terrorist atrocity is, in the Times' parlance, reduced to a "tragedy." The Times editorial doesn't mention a word of the anti-Semitic dialogue in the Opera and completely ignores the following lyrics: "Wherever poor men are gathered they can find Jews getting fat--You know how to cheat the simple, exploit the virgin, pollute where you have exploited--Defame those you cheated--And break your own law with idolatry." The terrorist tells Mr. Klinghoffer: "America is one big Jew." These lyrics from the Opera are not portrayed as the ranting of someone who is evil. If that was the context of this hate speech, it would be justified. Rather, this language is depicted as coming from an idealistic victim of Jewish persecution, justified in fighting back against his Jewish oppressors. He is a terrorist, yet the terrorists in the opera are portrayed as freedom fighters. In the language of the Palestinian terrorists: "We are soldiers fighting a war. We are not criminals and we are not vandals but men of ideals." But the Times is willing to overlook the portrayal of terrorists as idealists, because the Times itself views terrorists through the same distorted moral prism. The message of the Times, like the Klinghoffer Opera, is that terrorists are "not criminals...not vandals but men of ideals." So, let the hijackings, the mass murders, the beheadings, the World Trade Center attacks go on. Why? Because The New York Times says that terrorists are "aggrieved" and their murders are "tragedies."
Readers who noted how quickly the Times editorial brushed aside the objections of Leon Klinghoffer's daughters, may also want to take a look at the open letter to the Metropolitan Opera protesters by Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl, who was beheaded by what the Times would describe as people who were "aggrieved" and caused a "tragedy" when they beheaded his son. "To be read at the NYC Rally protesting 'The Death of Klinghoffer'" Finally, it should be noted that the Catholic League has joined the protest against the Klinghoffer rally and described it as not neutral, but rather, "obscene." It urged Catholics to participate in the protest. "'Death of Klinghoffer' Distorts History" Please join the live protest at the Metropolitan Opera this Monday: Monday, September 22, 2014
4:30 – 6:00 PM
Lincoln Center
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
Broadway & West 65 Street
New York, NY 10023 And please forward this email to all of your friends and associates who may be willing to either attend the rally or send a letter of protest to the manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, at pgelb@metopera.org. Citizens Opposed to Propaganda
Masquerading as Art (COPMA)
Robert G. Samet, Chairman
Mark H. Lazerson, Vice-Chairman
Carol Greenwald, PhD, Treasurer
Barbara Leber, PhD, Secretary
Jeffrey Ward, General Counsel
Ellen Heyman, PhD, Programming Director http://www.COPMA.net
info@copma.net | | |
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