Pro-Palestinian demonstrators targeted patrons near a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Regent’s Park Open Air Theater in London on Monday, accusing the audience of being “Zionist.”
The show went on, despite anti-Israel protesters waving Palestinian flags at a musical set that replicated shtetl life in Russia. A spokesperson for the theater said the musical “went ahead as planned.”
“‘Fiddler on the Roof’ isn’t just a Jewish musical: It’s the family story of most Jewish families in this country. Holding an anti-Israel protest there is pure antisemitism,” said Dave Rich, director of policy for Community Security Trust.
“Pro-Palestinian protest at a performance of ‘Fiddler on the Roof in London’ tonight,” the Combat Antisemitism Movement stated. “The play has nothing to do with Israel. It has nothing to do with Zionism. Targeting a symbol of Jewish culture shows that these people hate Jews.”
The modern-day State of Israel was established in 1948. The play depicts the lives of a Jewish family set in the Pales of Settlement in Imperial Russia around 1905.