A prominent Sydney Theatre Company board member has quit after actors held a pro-Palestine protest onstage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Three actors donned the Palestinian keffiyeh at the end of the opening night of the company's production of Chekhov's The Seagull on Saturday.
The move sparked criticism from the Jewish community and triggered the resignation of Judi Hausmann after 16 years on the board.
Ms Hausmann chaired the company's Remix organising committee and was one of its foundation directors.
The Sydney Theatre Company and Ms Hausmann have been contacted for comment.
The National Council of Jewish Women Australia said the STC was loved and supported by many in the community.
"You have failed on a deep and moral level. We cannot forget this easily," the council said in an online post.
Daniel Grynberg, a long-time STC subscriber and former head of fundraising organisation JCA, also weighed in on the protest.
Mr Grynberg said he would have felt sickened had he been in the audience, due to threats to his family in Gaza and recent anti-Semitism in Sydney.
"We (Jews) in Australia have felt totally abandoned by the progressive left. Our pain is to be understood or contextualised. And Israeli suffering is ignored," he wrote in the Australian Financial Review.
"So the STC actors' 'protest' is viewed by me, and by most Sydney Jews in that light.
"The STC - which has done so very much to show care for so many other minorities and historically disadvantaged groups (First Nations, LGBTQIA, Women's voices) - has done precisely nothing to make this particular minority feel supported."
Singer Tania de Jong wrote to the STC and described the protest as an "appalling and arrogant" stunt that threatened the entire arts sector.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said it would support any members disciplined by their employer for expressing their views.
"MEAA respects the rights of members to publicly express their views on this issue, and will support any members who are subject to disciplinary action for simply engaging in freedom of expression," acting chief executive Adam Portelli said.
Australian Associated Press
