With the presentation of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," we got lucky, for we are witnessing a post-production live theater that is more important than the "Palestinian refugee question." The live play's theme is as old as mankind, first presented in the Greek tragedy Oedipus. It is about denial, the denial of denial and a conspiracy of silence that is maintained by the mechanism of the Three Monkeys, "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil."
Ketchum's well-oiled Jewish PR hit squad is attempting to squelch the lone voice that finally cries out, a child, no less. "Look, the emperor has no clothes!"
Not only do they maintain their three-pronged silence among themselves, but they attempt to enforce it on the rest of us. Anyone who dares to demur, faces the "anti-Semitic, Palestinian collaborator" slur. Either maintain "the end justifies the means" orthodoxy of Israeli militarism or face "shame-on-you" censure.
Ironically, this very conspiracy of silence, a tacit agreement "not to know" among Nazis, ordinary German citizens and Jews that aided the carrying out of the Final Solution, as it aids the attempted choking of the Palestinians.
The organized filibuster of the question-and-answer session was designed not only to voice self-righteous angst but to send a message to any and all future presentations of this sort—enforced silence. It is precisely this attitude that perpetuates the festering sore that is the Arab/Israeli stalemate. As usual, truth becomes the first casualty.
The inspiration for this difficult-to-write letter came from the distinguished Jewish scholar Eviatar Zerubavel's book, "The Elephant in the Room, Silence and Denial in Everyday Life."
Bali Szabo
Hailey
