I want to clarify something that has come up recently. In a recent news item, Abraham Foxman, head of the anti-defamation league (ADL), accuses my new production of "The Wall" and by implication me, of anti-Semitism. Had he come to my show before passing judgment and commenting publicly he might have held his peace. The song to which he refers, "Goodbye Blue Sky", describes how we, the military and civilians alike, suffer trauma in the aftermath of war. The visual that accompanies the song shows waves of B52 bombers dropping various symbols from bomb bays on a war ravaged landscape. The symbols are, in no particular order, a Crucifix, a Hammer and sickle, a Star of David, A Crescent and Star, a Mercedes sign, a dollar sign, and a Shell Oil sign. There are no hidden meanings in the order or juxtaposition of these symbols as Mr. Foxman asserts. The point I am trying to make is that the bombardment we are all subject to by conflicting religious, political, and economic ideologies only encourages us to turn on one another. In so far as "The Wall" has a political message it seeks only to illuminate and encourage peace and cooperation.
Incidentally, being from England, I had never heard of the ADL until today, but I have googled them and I see from their mission statement of 1913 that their brief is not only to defend the Jewish people from defamation, but also, " to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens". Why don't we all focus on that lofty ideal and stop throwing stones at one another.
Roger
