From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 12, 2024
London theater apologizes after comedian said to harass Jewish audience member who didn’t stand for Palestinian flag
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A London theater has issued an apology after a comedian it hosted allegedly harassed a Jewish audience member and ordered him to “leave my fucking show” when the spectator did not applaud a Palestinian flag.
The Soho theater says it has opened an investigation into the Saturday incident “which has caused upset and hurt to members of audience attending and others.”
According to witnesses, Paul Currie placed Palestinian and Ukrainian flags onstage and invited the audience to stand and applaud.
“When we all sat down again, [Currie] looked toward a young man sitting in the second row and said: ‘You didn’t stand, why? Didn’t you enjoy my show?’ a witness recalls to the Campaign Against Antisemitism watchdog.
“The young man, who we discovered soon after was Israeli, replied: ‘I enjoyed your show until you brought out the Palestinian Authority flag.’”
The witness says Currie responded, “Get out of my show. Get the f*ck out of here. F*ck off, get the f*ck out of here” as several other audience members cheered the comedian on and shouted, “Get out” and “Free Palestine” until the young man left.
The witness, who was also Jewish, says, “It felt like we were welcome in the theatre as long as our identities [as] Jews weren’t known, and the minute our identities were known, we felt threatened.”
The Times of Israel Community.