Sunday, February 3, 2008
You know, I wouldn't have any problem with Arab cultural groups of one kind or another touring, being brought unto schools, giving performances wherever...but I've never seen one yet where the "art" wasn't just a shallow veneer to cover the real political agenda of cheap propagandizing of the Arab cause to smash the Jewish State. The Philosemitism blog reports on an...uh..."resistance" circus slated to tour Belgium and being supported by official sources:
...While the festival is meant to be a cultural festival - the French Community [of Belgium] has sponsored similar seasonal events showcasing the cultures of Congo and Benin - some observers of Belgium in the Jewish world are worried it will become politicized.
As part of the festival, an official Web site of the French Community, www.agenda.be, lists the clown performance with the title "Circus Behind the Wall." The Web site describes the visit as "a clown, acrobats and a circus as a means of resistance and struggle." According to French Community Minister of International Relations Marie-Dominique Simonet, the festival focuses on Palestinian culture separate from Israel because Israel is a "rich country" - outside the "north-south" framework of the festivals, which try to showcase a poorer southern nation. At the same time, the minister added, Israel already enjoys cultural and scientific cooperation with Belgium's French Community.
Meanwhile, the French-speaking Belgian newspaper La Libre quotes Palestinian representative in Brussels Leila Shaid as saying that, in the paper's words, "we should not always talk of Israel when we talk about Palestine and... it should be possible to show 'simply' artists of a country."...
Should be. Never do, though. I'll give 'em this. Unlike the usual circus act of this nature, at least the clowns will be in actual makeup.
