In the mid-1980s, Palestinian terrorists swarmed aboard the cruise ship Achille Lauro in the central Mediterranean and, after terrorizing passengers and crew, executed wheelchair-bound Jewish retiree Leon Klinghoffer (in front of his family). President Reagan staged an anti-terror strike that captured the terrorists, forcing the airliner they were fleeing in to land in Italy - only to see the soft-on-terror Italian courts release them (but that's another story).
A few years later, this incident was turned into a virulently anti-Semitic opera, "The Death of Klinghoffer," which was a piece of performance-art propaganda that Joseph Goebbels would have been proud to claim as his own.
Given all of that, I am outraged that the Metropolitan Opera of New York City is moving ahead with plans to perform "The Death of Klinghoffer."
This pro-terrorist piece of operatic "Big Lie" propaganda - a work of a "Big Lie" masquerading as art - is offensive not just to Jews, but to all who care about slapping down terrorists instead of glorifying them. A number of Jewish and Christian organizations have condemned the Met, which is nonetheless proceeding with the performance.
Were I a member of the Met, I'd not only very publicly cancel my membership, but I'd also very publicly boycott the Met until they repudiate this egregious act of corporate anti-Semitism. Since I'm not a member, I can't cancel, but Lynn and I have been talking about taking a vacation (some day) to NYC, where she used to live (out on Long Island) and the Met had been on our to-do list ... until now.
If you care anything at all about anti-Semitism or fair play for Jews and Israel, I encourage you to boycott the Met ... and ask your friends to do the same
