Re: mikis theodorakis

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

I have to say that I think this is one of those cases where remarks are not
improved by their context, which does happen on occasion.  I MIGHT reserve
judgment if the composer were to elaborate in an appropriate manner.

I also don't think the person who noted that Israel's 'alliance' with Turkey (I
think that might be a bit of an exaggeration) was attempting to wave off
anti-Semitism by suggesting that Theodorakis was only 'anti-Zionist,' a
construct Alan Dershowitz has deconstructed very convincingly on several
occasions.  The conflation of Jews and Israel is the responsibility of
anti-Semities and 'anti-Zionists,' not Jews and Zionists (both terms whose
meanings have become bloated to near meaningless by the antis).  That
Theodorakis or others in Greece may have had Israel in mind as part of the
motivation behind their screeds, one which these days carries a certain cache
on the left, seems obvious enough.

I realize the request was for an off-list response and I apologize, but this
really is a matter of culture and music.  Far too often in recent years have a
certain breed of leftist classical composers made morally vacuous remarks
(think Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Adams) for this to be an off-list
concern.  Cultural icons who use their prestige in the service of politics
strike me as fair game for response as public as this list.



Ari Davidow wrote:

> At 08:12 PM 11/20/2003, you wrote:
> >was wondering if anyone else saw that small news item in a recent
> >English-language "Forward" issue which was about the Greek composers
> >recent statement that Jews were evil, among other attributes. Had no idea
> >the man harbored such sentiments.
>
> The context is interesting, and fits the person who wrote The Mauthausen
> Cantata. I found a news item in Yahoo:
> http://au.news.yahoo.com/031112/19/mhtw.html
>
> Given that he is Greek, and that the statement was explicitly about "Greeks
> and Jews", I think he is making a point about fanaticism with which one
> might (or might not) agree. But those who want to take this to private
> email and discuss it further are certainly welcomed to explore it.
>
> ari
>

--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music and Jewish Studies
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)


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