Bill Blumenreich, whose event promotion company operates Boston’s Wilbur Theatre, walked outside on Thursday night to speak with Jewish activists protesting his company’s role in a scheduled Mahmoud Khalil book talk.
After talking to the protesters, he canceled his involvement with the event.
Adar Rubin, director of mobilization for EndJewHatred, which organized the rally, said that Blumenreich told protesters he didn’t know who Khalil was. After they described the former Columbia student’s history of Jew-hatred, Blumenreich asked whether they wanted the event canceled, according to Rubin.
“He went back inside, and about 20 minutes later he came out, told the activists the show was canceled and shook their hands,” Rubin said.
“Mr. Blumenreich has assured us that he canceled the event, asked that all tickets be refunded and removed his company’s name from it,” he said.
The Sept. 30 talk about Khalil’s memoir, No Land to Stand On, will still take place at Arts of the Armory in Somerville, Mass. Rubin said Brookline Booksmith, an independent bookstore which partnered on the event, has decided to proceed on its own. The store is located in a busy area with several nearby synagogues and kosher restaurants.
“It’s disappointing that Brookline Booksmith is still giving Khalil a platform, but this outcome nevertheless shows that activism works,” Rubin told JNS.
According to an event listing, tickets for the book talk are sold out. Brookline Booksmith posted on social media on Friday that “this event has not been canceled” and that “we are honored to be hosting Mahmoud Khalil.”
