The Australian government has been asked to convey to the Malaysian government the protest and indignation of the Australian Jewish community over Kuala Lumpur’s ban on works of a Jewish composer.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bill Hayden, after the controversy which led to the cancellation of a concert tour of Malaysia by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Council president, lsi Leibler, condemned the Malaysian government’s policy against the “screening, portrayal or musical presentation of works of Jewish origin” as contemptible racism. Leibler said that if Malaysia persisted with such policies, its efforts to improve its standing in critical areas of Australian public opinion would suffer.
He noted that Malaysia’s Prime Minister had visited Australia earlier this month to attract investment and encourage greater co-operation between the two countries. “Malaysia’s officially endorsed intolerance is not only offensive to Jews, it will be considered abhorrent by all in large sections of Australian society,” Leibler added.
Malaysian government officials demanded that the New York Philharmonic drop a score composed by Jewish composer Ernest Bloch during its scheduled concerts there next month. The officials said they objected to the composition, “Schelomo, A Hebrew Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, “because of the word Hebrew. Malaysia did not oppose the inclusion of works by other Jewish composers in the program, such as Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
