Avraham Oz

[rknowles at UOGUELPH.CA]

Dear all,

Following up on Denis's message including Judith Butler's message about
Avraham Oz, below are some responses to the issue (including, at the end, from
Martin Orkin) that may be helpful for those of you contemplating writing.

Best,

Ric


                    "Yossi Ben-
Artzi"
                    <yossiho at research.ha
To:
                    ifa.ac.il>
cc:
                                               Subject:     Re: Avraham
Oz
                    01/21/04 04:44
AM








       Dear colleguase,



       I am saddened to learn that you have been misled, and misinformed
     regarding the Avi Oz affair. Professor Avi Oz's refusal to work within
     the
     parameters of the Theatre Department has been mysteriously transformed
     into
     an issue of grand politics. In actual fact the whole issue is somewhat
     more
     mundane and sordid. It has to do with the reckless recruitment of
     friends
     and family members in violation of faculty or departmental hiring and
     budgetary procedures. Contrary to the manipulative spin disseminated
     by
     Professor Oz, this is an issue of ethics and collegial behavior and
     has
     nothing to do with ideology or freedom of speech. In fact, you may be
     interested to know that despite our vilification as enemies of
     Jewish-Arab
     coexistence, the theater department--and not some private
     latitudinal--will,
     as of January 22, launch a new production of a Hanoch Levin play in
     Arabic,
     with a cast of students and graduates, Jews and Arabs.

       You are invited to read the following letter of clarification
     regarding
     the chain of events leading to the exercise in victimology you may
     have
     received via email. The University of Haifa's Theater department, its
     productions, and other artistic ventures, are not a family affair but,
     instead, an important contribution to our campus community which,
     despite
     rumors to the contrary, is indeed an island of coexistence.





       Dear friends,

       In response to the queries regarding Professor Avi Oz's letter
     circulated
     on Segel Plus, I would like to offer the following clarifications:



       1. During the course of the summer, The Faculty of Humanities'
     Teaching
     and Curriculum committee dedicated several meetings to the various
     didactic,
     pedagogical and administrative aspects of the Theater Department.

       2. Following the testimonies of various members of the department,
     including the former departmental chair, Professor Martin Orkin, as
     well as
     Professor Avi Oz, Ms. Yitzhaki and Mr. Gazit, the committee decided
     upon the
     following:





              a. The committee advised the Dean to nominate an external
     departmental chairperson whose main duties would be to devise teaching
     and
     administrative procedures in accordance with the university
     pedagogical
     requirements, while preserving the department's special character.



       b. The committee urged the Dean to establish an external committee
     in
     order to examine:

             --The Department's curriculum

             --Teacher-student relationships

             --The theater production schedule and its adjustments to other
     university requirements and procedures.



       3. The Dean established a committee of distinguished faculty members
     and
     one external member from Tel Aviv University's Theater Department. The
     committee commenced its deliberations at the beginning of the academic
     year
     and has conducted several exhaustive studies regarding various aspects
     of
     the theater department.



       4. While the committee has yet to make its recommendations, it is
     quite
     clear that neither the university nor the Faculty of the Humanities
     ever
     established an independent "University Theater." Given the fact that
     no such
     body was ever established it stands to reason that this virtual
     enterprise
     was not, and cannot be dismantled. Of course, no one was either fired
     or
     relieved of duties from a function that formally never existed.



       5. Professor Oz's curious letter contains many misstatements, to say
     the
     least. But rather than engage in some fruitless argument, I suggest
     that we
     wait until we receive the committee's finding before making hasty
     judgments,
     whether personal or otherwise.



       6. The various attempts to add a political or personal "spin" to
     this
     important pedagogical issue are unfortunate and baseless. Since my
     appointment at the Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities I have been
     unstinting in the amount of time, energy, and funds, invested in this
     important program. We recognize the significant contribution of the
     department and its productions to both the university community and
     beyond.
     I trust we can all agree that the theater department and its
     theatrical
     productions are not the personal property of anyone, no matter how
     distinguished s/he may be.





       7. In conclusion: Despite malicious rumors to the contrary, there
     are no
     secretive plans to discontinue the department's theatrical
     productions. We
     intend to continue these productions, with the help of the most
     distinguished directors and other professionals that the country has
     to
     offer. We intend to upgrade dramatically both the teaching aspects and
     the
     department's theatrical productions through the implementation of
     proper
     academic and artistic procedures, as well as the recruitment of
     talented
     faculty members.



       I trust that this brief note has defused some of the imaginative and
     imaginary false alarms regarding the future of the department and its
     personnel.



       2.

                         Dear Members of Segel-Plus

                         While  I think it would be improper for me to
     comment on
     some of the issues raised recently on Segel-Plus, which the Committee
     for
     Re-evaluation of the Department of Theatre is currently examining, I
     find it
     necessary to place the following on record:

                         1. During the time I served as Head of the Theatre
     Department, from October 2000 to October 2003, I found Professor Yossi
     Ben-Artzi, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities to be an untiring
     supporter of
     the Department of Theatre in all its aspects. He went far beyond his
     duty in
     his support of productions, efforts to raise funds, attempts to
     support
     development of its different programmes and in his crucial role in the
     building of a permanent home for the Creative Arts.

                         2. At no time in my dealings with Yossi did I find
     even
     the slightest hint of prejudice in his generous and unfaltering
     concern for
     all the students and faculty at this university. His social conscience
     was,
     amongst many other actions, evident to me in his active support for
     the
     development, within our department, of one of its programmes, the
     community
     theatre curriculum, in order to produce graduates who might serve all
     members of the Haifa community, as well as in his crucial assistance
     with
     the active raising of funds for this purpose. As a result of his
     support and
     effort we currently have students, using the tools of community
     theatre,
     working amongst Arab and Israeli communities including the aged,
     battered
     women, adolescents who have criminal records, young single women,
     street
     children.

                         3. Yossi Ben-Artzi has shown unfaltering support
     for all
     productions within the department. It should be noted that these
     include, as
     we know, in the second year of my tenure as head, the very important
     and
     laudable project, for the first time in the history of this
     department, of
     production of an Arab/Palestinian play. Full credit for this lies with
     the
     artistic division of the department which Professor Ben-Artzi, as
     always,
     unquestioningly supported. In the same way, he has shown only support
     for
     the current production in Arabic, the second  instance of its kind,
     produced
     during the tenure of the present Head of the Theatre Department
     Professor
     Menachem Mor.

                         4. At no time did Yossi ever want to close down
     the
     performance dimension of the theatre department. On the contrary he
     has been
     at all times an enthusiastic proponent of the performance aspect of
     this
     department's curriculum, working tirelessly to find a more permanent
     theatre
     space for it to use.  As I understand it, part of the concern of a
     Committee
     of Reevaluation of Theatre Studies - the present one established, it
     should
     be emphasized, last year -  would be to include significant
     consideration
     only of how, in the context of current pedagogical and budgetary
     considerations within this particular university, the training of
     students
     in the different tools of theatre may best be pursued. This includes
     performance, which is one of the essential prerequisites for any
     Department
     of Theatre, although not the only one. To periodically examine how it
     is to
     be taught to students, is incumbent upon any university theatre
     department,
     just as any other department periodically must review its programmes.
     To do
     so in no way implies cessation of that activity or field of study,
     which in
     the case of performance, for a theatre department, would be
     unthinkable. Nor
     does it imply any proscription whatever on what kinds of
     plays/performances
     might in the future take place and in what languages.

                         Martin Orkin
                         Department of Theatre