‘Tales of a City by the Sea’ is a play about Gaza, which tells of a love story set amid war and siege, remains on the VCE curriculum despite accusations it spreads anti-semitism. “It seems that I, the writer, missed the memo that I can’t write an artistic piece about Palestinian life without inserting Israel’s point of view into my art” wrote Samah Sabawi in the Age, adding, “This is wrong on so many levels.”
“What the critics don’t seem to grasp is this play is not about the Palestine/Israel conflict. Ordinary Palestinian life in Gaza does not revolve around political discussion. It is consumed with the daily battle for survival.”
Read the rest of “Vision of everyday life in Palestine too bleak for some” by Sabawi.
Read an earlier post about the vicious accusations and call for withdrawal of the play from the VCE curriculum.
The Anti-Defamation Commission’s chair will be speaking at Limmud Oz this month, about the subject of bigotry.