Hatred for Rachel Corrie knows no limits, as a Jerusalem municipal official demonstrates by trying to ban a play about the ‘Israel-hater tourist.’ The director to +972 Magazine: ‘He should see it before judging.’
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem David Hadari, of Nafatli Bennet’s Jewish Home party, demanded that the city stop funding the Khan Theater because it is hosting a play about Rachel Corrie, Haaretz reported Sunday evening [Heb].
“My Name is Rachel Corrie” is a play that has been staged around the world and is now showing in Israel in Hebrew, directed by Ari Remez. It is based on the diaries Corrie wrote during her stay in Israel/Palestine as an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) up until her death in 2003.
Rachel Corrie’s story has always touched a nerve in Israeli society, as can be seen in Hadari’s letter to the relevant authorities in the municipality:
“In the past few days I was shocked to learn that the Khan Theater is advertising a play which it intends to show about the tourist Rachel Corrie, who was run over in an unfortunate accident by an IDF bulldozer during an operation in Gaza. May I remind you, this was a girl who demonstrated against Israel, against IDF soldiers and against the IDF’s activities to protect the communities of the South from missiles and terrorists. In other words, this was an Israel hater who was unintentionally killed and that the courts in Israel refused the family’s requests for compensation… We should not lend a hand to problematic plays that hurt Israel and Jerusalem in the name of art.
In its response to Haaretz, the Khan Theater said the show is not its own, it is just hosting the performance.
The play’s director, Ari Remez, told +972 Magazine:
It’s a pity that the deputy mayor, just as MK Orit Strouk before him, is hurrying to judge the play as inciting without even seeing it. They are both most welcome to come and see the play first to see what it’s all about.