Artists rally to defend youth theatre company under attack
JVL Introduction
Tanushka Marah is director of the ThirdSpace theatre company, founded 12 years ago, making youth-led productions with low income and minoritized children and young people in Brighton and Hove. Both she and the company are under attack by pro-Israel activists, prompting Artists for Palestine UK to mobilise in their defence. We reproduce below their report and statement signed by, among others, directors David Lan and Ian Rickson, writer Michael Rosen, actors Billy Howle, Khalid Abdalla, Juliet Stevenson and Harriet Walter and playwrights Caryl Churchill and Tanika Gupta.
Marah, who is of Palestinian-Jordanian descent, stood as an independent pro-Gaza socialist candidate in Hove and Portslade in the July 2024 general election. During the campaign, her office, banners and election materials were vandalised and she faced online harassment and intimidation at her election events.
In August, UK Lawyers for Israel wrote to ThirdSpace saying the company “discriminated against Jews, Israelis and Zionists, by harassment, where harassment is defined (in Section 26 of the Equalities Act 2010)…”
They objected to the title of the planned Christmas show – Let it be a Tale – taken from the last line of a poem by Refaat Alareer, killed in an Israeli airstrike with six members of his family in December 2023. UKLFI said the poem’s theme about kites was “extremely offensive and intimidating to any Jewish participant, and obviously redolent of the burning kites and the machine gun wielding paragliders” – a reference to the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. A Jewish child who had earlier been upset by other “anti-Israel” content at ThirdSpace left the company as a result, UKLFI alleged.
The group’s harassment allegations have been shown to be “wholly without merit”. But they have reported ThirdSpace to the Community Interest Company (CIC) regulator and are waging a campaign to ban the Christmas show and ruin the company’s reputation among funders and venues.
Both Tanushka Marah and ThirdSpace have considerable support within the local community, including from Jewish people who have been vocal in their defence. Brighton and Hove Jews against the Occupation said: “We abhor the prospect that their work could be limited or shut down out of a sense that it might cause us, as Jewish people, some personal discomfort.”
See also this statement:
Comma Press and Voices of Resilience Stand with ThirdSpace Theatre
NWI
This article was originally published by Artists for Palestine UK on Wed 18 Dec 2024. Read the original here.
Leading artists condemn campaign against ‘Let it be a Tale’ theatre production
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Thank you for supporting the vital role of Third Space Theatre Group in allowing young people to engage with the defining issues of our age through theatre and combatting the harassment and mendacious attacks by UKFIL
Time to turn the tables. UKLFI should be prosecuted for libel , harassment and I’m sure other crimes which undermine the good reputation of individuals and institutions and cause them considerable distress. Why on earth are they taken seriously!
I am a jewish resident of Brighton and Hove. I think it is disgraceful the way UKFLI has tried to silence Palestinian voices by wickedly claiming anti-semitism where no such thing exists. We live in a multi cultural environment and do not accept UKFLI deliberately trying to sow discord and division. They are the racists here.
It’s scary that ‘antisemitism’ is being used to try and shut down debate and artistic freedoms. This theatre group has worked with hundreds of young people from all walks of life, making great art and brilliant friends and connections
art is freedom of speech and expression. the work Thirdspace do is vital
Third Space have supported so many young people and gives them the space to grow and develop together. This is so important for Brighton’s community!
The actions of LFI have shown them to be nothing more than an organ of censorship against legitimate Palestinian voices. Their attacks shouldn’t be entertained or even tolerated by those in power.
We need this reality to be told in as many ways possible and the arts have an important role to play. Thank you for adding your voice at this time. For all humanity
Come on Brighton & Hove. Step up!
Jews don’t commit Genocide , thems the rules, so where is the anti semitism ?
Actually UKLFI is a part of the Israel lobby using intimidating pressure and often false or utterly distorted accusations and insinuations to portray anyone who upholds tge rights of Palestinians as antisemitic, resulting in the closure or cancellation of events, exhibitions or the employment of a person in an institution or organisation.
A clear case in point was the removal of an exhibition of ceramic art by the children of Gaza in the foyer of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital because UKLFI said there had been complaints by Jewish visitors or patients who were upset at the Palestinian content. It was subsequently shown that this was a entirely fabricated accusation and highlights the methodology of the type of ‘lawfare’ which is basically the use of hasbarah to silence Palestinian voices or those who support human rights for Palestinians and Palestine. Further their methodology is possibly illegal and used to cover up and to uphold the war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Israeli state and its armed forces. An investigation needs to be carried out of their dangerous tactics.
UKLFI’s charitable status should be challenged and removed. It’s activities, based on lies, fabrications and insinuations are politically motivated on behalf of a state committing the most heinous of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide.
An outfit like this is the antithesis of a charity and should be banned as a being a disruptor of civil life and rights, damaging to people’s characters and careers, and using questionable methods that are a travesty of the law.
Never fear. I am sure Starmer’s new ‘Anti corruption & Inequality in the Arts Champion’ will do all possible to stop this kind of thing. [Hollow laugh…]
Good luck with the production ThirdSpace and don’t be intimidated by UKLFI. By attacking you wrongly, a lot more people are now aware of your good work and want to support you in the future.
What an utter disgrace UK Lawyers for Israel are.
It’s vital that we continue to speak out at the attempted silencing of cultural organisations. As an artist who works with and for communities I support Third Space as they attempt to create work at a time of horrific injustice. Let it be a tale.
Helen Stoller, if you would be interested in being part of Brighton & Hove Jews Against the Occupation, please contact me:
[email protected]
The Zionist lobby truly is insidious and the UK Lawyers for Israel should be banned from charity status. They mock the meaning of charity. UKLI are nothing but a bunch of propagandists for genocide Israhel. The rest of my feelings about them are unprintable.
Disgraceful attack on a brilliant project. the council must not cave to the ultra right wing zionist complaints and in so doing upholds a narrative that says Israel has the right to comit a live-streamed genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while a theatre group trying to express some voice for those who try to survive or resist or talk about their experiences gets shut down. Resistance does not equate to antisemitism. On all local and national marches for an end to the genocide, there have been huge numbers of Jewish people and organisations present, showing their horror at what is happening in Palestine, and saying not in my name. This city council is our city council and you don’t have my veto, as a citizen here, to close down or veto the ThirdSpace project and their work
The equation of comments favourable to Palestinians or hostile to present Israeli Govt policies & actions with anti-semitic views is indefensible.