Mick Hartley

Stephen Pollard in the Jewish Chronicle on playwright Caryl Churchill, and the cancellation of an award:

In April Churchill was awarded this year’s European Drama award, a prize of £65,000 (the biggest of its type in Europe) from Schauspiel Stuttgart, sponsored by the Baden-Württemberg ministry of science, research and arts. So far, so unsurprising; the habit of cultural bodies to choose with laser-like accuracy the most inappropriate winner of an award is hardly newsworthy.

But this is where it gets fun. Earlier this month the panel which made the award to Churchill decided to cancel it, saying they had been “made aware of previously unknown information”, and citing “the author’s signatures in support of boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS]…The play Seven Jewish Children can also be regarded as being antisemitic. Therefore, to our great regret, the jury has decided not to confer the prize this year.”

Blow me down with a feather.

It gets better. Baden-Württemberg’s arts minister, Petra Olschowski, made clear that she agreed with them: “In Germany, we have a special historical responsibility. That is why we as a country take a clear and non-negotiable stance against any form of antisemitism. This is all the more reason why a prize funded by the state cannot be awarded under the given circumstances.”

I've posted about Churchill's Seven Jewish Children before – most recently last month:

Churchill's play was certainly considered antisemitic by many critics at the time - a "blood libel", "the mainstreaming of the worst anti-Jewish stereotypes — for instance, that Jews glory in the shedding of non-Jewish blood", "an open vilification of the Jewish people… drawing upon an atavistic hatred of the Jews", that would "stoke the fires of antisemitism". But Howard Jacobson's Guardian piece was perhaps the most powerful – "Caryl Churchill's play is not just bad art, but part of a toxic discourse that masquerades Jew-hatred as denunciation of Israel".

The Guardian, of course, is outraged:

Some of the leading names of British theatre and film have criticised the cancellation of a prestigious lifetime award to the playwright Caryl Churchill because of her support for Palestinian rights, saying the move is “nothing less than modern-day McCarthyism”.

Among those signing an open letter published on Thursday are Harriet Walter, Stephen Daldry, Juliet Stevenson, Stephen Frears, Richard Eyre, Peter Kosminsky and Dominic Cooke.

It's not because of her support for Palestinian rights, though: it's because she wrote a blatantly antisemitic play. And BDS is not a simple group in support of Palestinian rights. In 2019 the German Bundestag voted to cut off funding to any organizations that actively support it, and passed a resolution stating that BDS was "reminiscent of the most terrible chapter in German history" and that it triggered memories of the Nazi slogan "Don't buy from Jews."

More on that letter, from organisers Artists for Palestine UK:

The signatories – who accuse institutions in Germany of “deep-seated anti-Palestinian racism” – also include actors Miranda Richardson, Miriam Margolyes, Khalid Abdallah, Juliet Stevenson, Maxine Peake, and Maureen Beattie as well as leading playwrights Abbie Spallen, Polly Stenham, Hannah Khallil, Nicholas Wright, Sabrina Mahfouz, Tanika Gupta, film director Stephen Frears, and Observer theatre critic Susannah Clapp.

“For the Schauspiel Stuttgart to rescind its prestigious award is irresponsible, illiberal and ignorant; the decision reeks of the very fascism it affects to oppose” said Mike Leigh.

No it doesn't. They simply don't want to honour the playwright who wrote Seven Jewish Children. The Germans know a thing or two about antisemitism – as they say, "we have a special historical responsibility". They can recognise it when they see it, even if these ridiculous British luvvies are blinded by their self-righteous Palestinian activism.