There were only 4 interruptions of Batsheva's brilliant performance last night and all the cultural hooligans were loudly booed and yanked out onto the street commendably quickly by the security staff. I can't wait to see Batsheva in London. The reviews have been great so please buy your tickets if you have not already done so -- cultural hooligans excepted of course.
From today's Brighton Argus (page 5, columns 1-4, with photo - not in online edition)
Double protests outside Dome over Israeli dance performance
A large group of pro-israel supporters gatecrashed a planned protest outside the Brighton Dome last night. Pro-Palestinian campaigners had arranged to picket the performance of controversial dance group the Batsheva ensemble. But unknown to them, their opposite numbers had arranged a counter-demo, outnumbering the original protest. Ann Hallam from the Brighton Palestine Solidarity group said "We are boycotting the group's performance because they are part of Brand Israel. They are a state-funded group which is sent around the world to portray Israel as a cultured and vibrant place while ignoring the atrocities and persecution of the Palestinians."
And 60-70 pro-Israel supporters outshouted the 40-50 strong opposed as a line of police officers watched.
The dance group was originally set for two dates but Dome bosses pulled the second event in order to improve security. Evan Sorokin from the Sussex Jewish Representative Council said "whatever the rights and wrongs, politics should not interfere with art"
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