September 20, 2014 8:24 PM by JP Newsroom
A coalition of organizations will protest at Lincoln Center on Monday evening, Sept. 22, at 4:30 PM, across the street from the Lincoln Center Plaza at Broadway & 65th Street to protest the Metropolitan Opera House’s decision to air the “The Death of Klinghoffer.”
Thousands are expected to gather on the first night of the gala opening of the Metropolitan opera season. Dignitaries and elected officials are expected to raise their voices against this opera which promotes terrorism and anti-Semitism.
Confirmed participants include former Governor of NY George Pataki, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, ZOA’s Morton Klein and Knesset Member Nissim Ze’ev (Shas).
Criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman, Rabbi Avi Weiss, as well as Actor Tony LoBianco, Debra Burlingame (the sister of Charles “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon on 9/11), will be in a attendance.
A letter written by Daniel Pearl’s father will be read at the protest. “We do not stage operas for rapists ..and we do not compose symphonies for penetrating the minds of ISIS executioners,” the letter reads.
Protestors will hold American flags and have wheelchairs to illustrate the plight of 69-year old New-Yorker Leon Klinghoffer, who was killed by terrorists of the Palestine Liberation Front (PFLF). Sponsoring organizations include the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Zionist Organization of America, AFSI, AMCHA, Catholic League, Christians’ Israel Public Action Campaign (CIPAC), Congregation Ohab Zedek, Edmond J. SafraSynagogue, Lincoln Square Synagogue, RAJE, One Israel Fund, Stand With Us, Strength to Strength, Westchester High School, and others.
“This anti-Semitic opera viciously falsifies history to malign and incite hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. The opera is a disgrace and should be canceled immediately,” Morton Klein, president of Zionist Organization of America, said in a statement.