Avraham Oz

[Don Rubin]

dear list:

it seems to me that we have two positions articulated here: one from
judith butler portraying av oz as a political victim (see denis salter's
e-mail) and the other portraying the university theatre department which
employs oz as totally innocent (see ric knowles useful quoted
responses). i certainly do not know what is going on there. can we hear
from oz himself? does anyone have his e-mail? can anyone add anything to
this mystery?

i would think everyone needs to hold off writing until we get some
clearer information.

best to all

don rubin

> Denis Salter wrote:
>
> >> >      Dear Colleagues, Judith Butler has asked me to circulate
> >> > this information. Apologies for any
> >> >      cross-postings.--Denis Salter.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >      Dear Colleagues,   As you know, Avraham Oz is a strong peace
> >> > activist in Israel who has consistently directed theatre
> >> > productions which bring Israeli Jews and Arabs together as
> >> > actors, writers, directors, and stage directors. He writes
> >> > periodic articles about the violence committed by Israeli troops,
> >> > and most recently put on a production alternately in Arabic and
> >> > Hebrew with his company, the Haifa University Theatre Company.
> >> > Apparently, the fact of an Arab-language version of the play put
> >> > the administrators over the edge, and they have now called for
> >> > his resignation as director and threatened to put the company
> >> > under suspension and receivership.  Please help me oppose this.
> >> > Oz is a courageous activist and a brilliant director, offering a
> >> > model of cultural coalition at a time and in a place where there
> >> > are all too few signs of this.
> >> >
> >> >      -Judith Butler
> >> >
> >> >      Please sign and circulate and return your signature and
> >> > identifying title to performative2003 at yahoo.com.
> >> >
> >> >      If you wish to write directly to these administrators, their
> >> > addresses are:
> >> >      Professor Aaron Ben-Zeev, Rector, University of Haifa
> >> >      Fax +972-4-8342101, email: benzeev at research.haifa.ac.il
> >> >      Professor Yossi Ben-Artzi, Dean of Humanities
> >> >      Fax +972-4-8240128, email yossiho at research.haifa.ac.il
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >      Professor Aron Ben-Zeev, Rector, University of Haifa
> >> >      Professor Yossi Ben-Artzi, Dean of Humanities
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >              We are a group of writers, scholars, and individuals
> >> > associated with the theatre, who are writing to express our
> >> > strong opposition to the suspension of  Haifa University Theatre
> >> > Company's productions for political reasons.  This  unexpected
> >> > closure can only be understood as a political opposition to the
> >> > Israeli-Arab cooperative productions that have garnered
> >> > international respect for the company.
> >> >              We write as well to protest the removal of Professor
> >> > Avraham Oz as the Director of the Haifa University Theatre
> >> > Company.  The company has long had a reputation as a model of
> >> > Israeli-Arab cooperation, and has assumed a stellar international
> >> > reputation under the stewardship of Professor Oz.  We call upon
> >> > the University to support Avraham Oz in his current position, and
> >> > to honor the extraordinarily fine work that he has accomplished
> >> > there.  From our perspective, it would seem that Professor Oz is
> >> > being punished for his political views, or for the fact that
> >> > theatre sometimes foregrounds issues that have complex political
> >> > meanings, where participation has brought Arabs and Jews
> >> > together.  We oppose the effort at political censorship
> >> > constituted by your acts.
> >> >              These acts can only be understood as political
> >> > opposition to the Israeli-Arab cooperative productions and for
> >> > the fact that he chose to put some productions on in Arabic as
> >> > well as in Hebrew. We call upon you to recognize the important
> >> > work of this company and reinstate the director, empowering him
> >> > to run the theatre and its highly valued work as he has. This
> >> > course of action could only be a credit to you and the University
> >> > of Haifa, and restore faith abroad that Israeli educational and
> >> > cultural institutions can and do still embody principles of
> >> > intellectual and artistic freedom.
> >>
>
> ". . . From the point of view of a villager in Afghanistan whose
> family has died in a bombing raid, a villager who has probably never
> heard of the World Trade Centre, the distinctions between what the US
> forces are doing and what was done on 11 September [2001] will be
> academic."--Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Writing in
> the Dust.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
> Denis Salter
> Professor of Theatre
> McGill University
> 853 Sherbrooke St West
> Montréal
> H3A 2T6
>
> T: (514) 487 2568/398 6573
> F: (309) 294 0444
> E: <denis.salter at mcgill.ca>
>     <d.salter at videotron.ca>
>
> Home Office
> 4965, avenue Connaught
> Montréal
> H4V 1X4
>
> T: (514) 487 2568/487 7309
> F: (309) 294 0444
> E: <d.salter at videotron.ca>
>     <denis.salter at mcgill.ca>
>
> ******************************************