Published in Washington Jewish Week

http://digital.washingtonjewishweek.com/i/221928/17 Dear Editor, DCJCC artistic director Ari Roth defends his recent selection of "The Admission", a fictional play which everyone agrees depicts Israel in a very unfavorable light, to be shown at the DCJCC [ "Controversy at Theater J." (11/21/13)]. Mr. Roth states, with respect to Israel, that "Art can be the gateway to a mature engagement with the country and with each other as we celebrate and grapple with its founding." And that is the essence of Ari Roth’s thesis: to project his personal grappling of the founding of Israel in his selection of plays. And this is who the DCJCC has chosen to curate? He further states that Art "has the potential to make us more humane..." which further illustrates his problem with Israel. If we need to be "more humane" about Israel, then he implies that we are less humane in our current thinking about Israel. If there ever was an anti-Israel artistic director, Ari Roth wins the prize. It is a fact that Mr. Roth has turned down at least one play by a well-regarded playwright who had his plays performed throughout America. The play, "A Tiny Piece of Land", happens to be Pro-Israel. If Mr. Roth is so bent on airing his problems with Israel, perhaps he should work at a Palestinian Community Center. Michael Berenhaus