Minister to Arab actor: You can't boycott on the public's dime

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev issued a strong rebuke of Arab-Israeli actor Norman Issa on Tuesday after Israel Hayom revealed he was unwilling to join his fellow cast members in the play "Boomerang" when they perform in the Jordan Valley.

Issa cited his objection to Israel's presence in the area (which, along with the rest of Judea and Samaria, came under Israeli control following the Six-Day War in 1967). In response, Regev threatened to cut off state support for the Jaffa-based Elmina Theater, which Issa runs.

"I was disappointed to learn of Issa's decision not to appear in the upcoming production of 'Boomerang' in the Jordan Valley under the auspices of the Haifa Theater," Regev wrote on Facebook. "Issa's comments appear divorced from his philosophy of coexistence, which he has touted time and again. If Issa refuses to retract his statements, I plan to reassess my ministry's support for Elmina Theater, which he operates."

On Tuesday, Israel Hayom reported that "Boomerang" was originally set to play in a Jordan Valley venue on June 18, but the plan was shelved because of Issa's protest. The theater said Issa cited political reasons for his expected absence. Regev said she planned to summon him to her office as part of the disciplinary action.

"Elmina and the principles of coexistence it espouses are important; I consider coexistence to be important. I am in favor of a wide spectrum of views as part of this coexistence. Similarly, someone who talks the talk on coexistence must also walk the walk," she said.

Issa sounded a defiant tone on Tuesday, saying no one could force him to appear against his will.

"The witch hunt taking place over the past 24 hours, owing to my refusal to appear in a Haifa Theater production in the Jordan Valley, is just unfair," he wrote on Facebook.

"I am an Israeli Arab. I am married to a Jewish woman and I have an exemplary family. My mother and I have dedicated our lives to celebrating the coexistence of Jews and Arabs. Our kids were raised on these values. It is to promote this coexistence that we founded a theater in Jaffa. We gave it our all. It is a theater that seeks to promote understanding, acceptance, and inclusion by implementing coexistence in practice, not just in theory.

"As an Israeli Arab, would you expect me to appear in a disputed venue, against my conscience? My decision is not unheard of -- it has been successfully dealt with in the past. Many years ago, Israeli theaters agreed on a formula: Productions will appear everywhere; but actors -- Jewish and Arab alike -- would be replaced by a stand-in if they refused to perform for conscientious reasons. I told the Haifa Theater more than four months ago that I would need a replacement for that specific production. For whatever reason, the theater did not find one.

"What is even more troubling is that I now have to deal with a threat from Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, who will revisit the budgeting for the theater my wife and I have created with our bare two hands. The pressure being applied on me is borderline extortion. This theater is important to me and my wife. Please, do not force me to disobey my conscience just so I can weather this threat. I still believe in this country and its laws. This country allows every person to express his or her views and follow their conscience."

Elmina Theater issued a statement Tuesday saying it has "no basis to believe the culture minister would deny funding to the NGO running the theater, which is a multicultural place for children and teens, both Jews and Arabs. The NGO has met all the criteria for government subsidies. We ask that Issa's political views as an actor stand alone and bear no impact on this important and praiseworthy activity of the NGO."

Regev also stirred controversy when she spoke at the Cinema South Film Festival in Sderot on Tuesday.

"As culture minister I will make sure there is a variety of voices," she said. "Having said that, I will make sure the ministry will not support artists who delegitimize Israel and the soldiers who serve in the IDF; I will not support those who partake in the libelous campaign to besmirch Israel."

Professor Aner Preminger, who teaches at the Sapir College's School of Audio and Visual Arts heckled her.

"There will be no silencing of voices, not here," he interjected. Regev continued with her speech, undeterred by the applause Preminger's comments elicited among the students in the auditorium. Her comments drew applause as well. Preminger later explained that "it is deeply troubling to hear her talk about her ministry denying grants and funds from those she disagrees with. When artists and people fear making their views heard, that is called censorship. She said that artists and content producers will receive funds but warned them they must not engage in the delegitimization of Israel."

Meanwhile, more than month after the Haifa city council froze funding for a local Arabic-language theater over a controversial play on a terrorist, Education Minister Naftali Bennett decided the play would no longer receive subsidies from the ministry. The play is based on the life story of Arab-Israeli Walid Daka, who killed Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. Bennett essentially overruled a ministerial committee that determined that the play did not have "insulting or inciting content" and should therefore qualify for additional funding.

"I would like to state this as clearly as possible: The citizens of Israel will not fund plays that express tolerance toward the killers of soldiers," Bennett said on Tuesday.

Ortal Tamam, a niece of the slain soldier, applauded the decision.

"We commend the education minister for upholding his moral duty by ending support for the play," Tamam said. She called on Regev to follow suit, saying she must "urgently stop the flow of funds to a theater running a play that is inspired by a despicable killer. The play is based on the writings of someone who is idealized as a hero and casts him in a sympathetic light."

Zionist Union MKs Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, Hilik Bar and Itzik Shmuli, and MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid) talked with the Tamam family on Tuesday and expressed support for the campaign.

However, Bennett's decision was not without controversy. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, criticized Bennett's move.

"The decision to remove the show from the approved culture basket [the list of subsidized productions] was made in the context of his attempt to silence views deemed 'inappropriate' by the majority," the center said on its English website. "His decision violates both the artist's freedom of expression and the rights of Arab students to watch this play as part of their school activities."

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