By now you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding the opera The Death of Klinghoffer, which the Metropolitan Opera is showing this fall. The opera tells the story of the hijacking of a ship by the PLO and their murder of a Jewish man on board. It gives equal voice to both the Jewish and Palestinian characters. Many think that it sympathizes with the terrorists and is antisemitic.
To be honest, both the opera and the reaction to it trouble me. Let me explain why.
When it comes down to it, this opera isn’t–overtly, at least; I can’t speak for its author’s intentions–meant to be antisemitic or take a political side. It’s meant to tell a story, one we might find highly offensive and horrible, but it’s the story the author wants to tell.
The problem is even if we have a problem with this story, the author still has every right to tell it. I mean, I’m a writer too, one who tells stories through articles and short stories and eventually novels. (Since you’re reading this, you’ve probably guessed that.) I want to be able to speak my mind, to give my full opinion without the fear of being censored.
When it comes to my own artistic work, I enjoy getting a chance to have the freedom to speak and write as I feel. It’s in the First Amendment of this country, and one of my all-time favorite quotes is “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (a quote attributed to Enlightenment thinker Voltaire, but it was actually a summary of his beliefs written by a later biographer). By protesting this opera, it’s as if we’re protesting against freedom of speech. And that bothers me.
On the other hand, if there is the freedom to show this opera, of course we have the freedom to protest it. And this opera could cause people to turn even further against Israel. I mean, a few hours before I wrote this, someone I follow on Instagram posted a pro-Palestinian picture which I found offensive (thankfully it’s easy to hit the unfollow button). In the comments of that picture was a harsh debate where both the Israeli side and Palestinian side were lobbing verbal barbs at each other, and not very respectfully. It wasn’t the worst online back-and-forth on the topic that I’ve seen, but it still disturbed me. There’s still so much anti-Israel hate in the world, and after Operation Protective Edge this past summer it only got worse. Do we really want an opera being shown to thousands of people that could sway even more towards an anti-Israel offensive? I know the Met planned the opera well in advance–the timing of it being shown on the heels of the Gaza war is just an awful coincidence–but now more than ever it’s important that we show people the truth and fight for our beliefs, our side.
It’s also important for us to not close our minds completely to the “other side” of the story, even if we’ll disagree with it. For instance, while I was unable to attend, the Ramaz Upper School recently hosted a Palestinian speaker who now works with an organization that tries to foster peace between the two sides. From what I heard, while the people in my school didn’t agree with everything he said, they thought it was important to finally hear from the other side and to understand the arguments that they usually are protected from.
But unlike the speaker at Ramaz, who spoke respectfully and in a controlled manner, this opera presents ideas wildly and dramatically. It’s an opera, after all–that’s what these shows do! However, when these are dangerous, antisemitic ideas, it becomes terrifying to have them presented in that way where people will be influenced by them without hearing the full story in a balanced, clear-cut way.
Some friends of mine are holding a rally against the opera on the day it opens. Will it cause the Met to cancel the opera? Sadly, I don’t think so, if only because of the money the Metropolitan Opera could stand to lose if it does so. Could it persuade some people from seeing it? Could it help spread the truth about Israel and the conflict? Could it persuade the Met and other places to not show this opera again? Now those are definite possibilities.
So, overall, I’m against this opera, and I might even join a rally against it (provided it can fit my schedule!). Yet in the beginning it felt more complicated to me than just saying “It’s wrong” from the get go.
But guess what? I’m almost happy that I felt that way. I feel that having a knee-jerk reaction to every single thing that seems inflammatory is the wrong way to go. Yes, there are some things that are completely intolerable and wrong from the start. But as with other issues, if I don’t just follow my gut reaction and try to explore a bit more, I can strengthen and validate my own opinion. And that makes what I think, say, and write come out much stronger.
Oren Oppenheim, age 17, lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and is a junior at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan. He spends his spare time reading and writing when he isn’t busy studying for the next test. You can email him at [email protected].
By Oren Oppenheim
