A representative of Sheffield City Council has said she was “angry and upset” to hear of how an event partially funded by the council was “hijacked” to include a panel discussion on Israel-Palestine – in which all participants were anti-Israel.
Rebecca Maddox, head of Business Development in the Culture and Environment office at the city council, told a member of the local Jewish community, Ellie Phillips, of her “extreme concern and displeasure” to hear about an “appallingly managed” panel event which took place after a theatrical production of My Name is Rachel Corrie, a play about the death of an American pro-Palestinian activist in Gaza.
The play was put on as part of a “Festival of Debate”, which took place in Sheffield ten days ago. As well as panels on other topics, it hosted six different events on the subject of Palestine/Israel, exclusively involving anti-Israel panellists.
When Ms Phillips expressed concern at the one-sided nature of the panels, the Festival of Debate pledged to cancel the discussion after My Name is Rachel Corrie and make sure the panels were more balanced. However, the festival appeared to then renege on its promise, with a Facebook post by the play’s production team revealing the panel discussion did indeed take place, featuring the same panellists but with a “different focus”.
