Image by Facebook

The National Coalition Against Censorship has sent out a letter criticizing the recent decision of the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in Miami to cancel a production of Julia Pascal’s play “Crossing Jerusalem” in the middle of its run.

The play follows an Israeli family during the second intifada in 2002, and was met with criticism from some offended community members that its message was “inappropriate and troublesome.”

The NCAC wants the JCC’s president, Gary Bomzer, to rethink its decision and reschedule the remaining shows. In a letter, the NCAC says the JCC shouldn’t have given into pressures that wanted to stifle controversy and debate.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Censoring the play does nothing to promote conversation; on the contrary, it cuts short any possibility for a productive debate by letting hecklers decide the programming of an institution that should serve the community as a whole — in all its diversity of views,” the letter reads.

Ari Roth, the former director at Theater J, which is overseen by the Washington, D.C. JCC, and who blamed his 2014 firing in part as stemming from controversies over handling plays dealing with Israel, endorsed the letter, along with other playwrights like Joshua Ford, Larry Kunofsky, Christine Evans, Karen Zacarias, Motti Lerner and Wendy Graf.

“It’s probably a good JCC and they’ve made a very bad decision,” he said. “They shouldn’t be silencing voices in their community and will pay a high price when they shut good voices up.”

Roth believes that the NCAC’s letter will have a positive effect on those who read it, but that the JCC will stand by its decision.

“The JCC will remain firm in their decision and yet the energy and the support of the community will lead to an enlarging of the circle of interest around portraits of Israel,” he said.

Bomzer has not returned calls for comment.

Britta Lokting is the Forward’s culture fellow.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount