Mick Hartley

From Jewish News:

A London theatre event featuring a play about LGBTQ+ Palestinians seeking refuge in Israel was disrupted by activists during a post-show discussion, prompting some audience members to leave early.

The rehearsed reading of Sharif, written by Israeli journalist and playwright Tomer Aldubi, took place on Tuesday evening at King’s Head Theatre, following an earlier performance at JW3.

The production explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ Palestinians who flee to Israel to escape persecution, drawing on real-life testimonies and years of research.

The attendee said the evening “started out as a civilised, convivial event” before a number of individuals appeared to take over the discussion.

“I was sitting next to one of them, and I could see he hadn’t come to experience the play,” they said. “His hand shot up the minute the Q&A began, and he read out a pre-written statement attacking Tomer and the state of Israel.”

They added that others joined in, turning the discussion into “an outpouring of hateful rhetoric”.

“What was meant to be an informed discussion degenerated into a vile onslaught of loathing and hatred towards Israel,” the attendee said.

No interaction – just hatred. Antisemitic hatred.

Aldubi told Jewish News: “They clearly came prepared just to attack. What is the point of pure hatred when this was meant to be a collaboration? They think they’ll achieve something by shouting and quoting me as if I were a politician… This creates more animosity towards Palestinians and won’t achieve anything good.

“They simply don’t care about the queer community; not once did they acknowledge the fact that so many gay people cannot live authentically in the West Bank, Gaza, or any other Arab country. If they are so eager to talk about the occupation, they are welcome to do so. However, they cannot tell me what I can or cannot write about – especially since this was written with such sensitivity and based on years of research, interviews, and volunteering.”

The event had been intended to encourage cross-community discussion around complex political and human rights issues following the performance.

Discussion is not possible with these people.