JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two actors from Israel’s national theater said they will not perform at a Jewish West Bank cultural center.
Haaretz reported Wednesday that the Habima Theater is one of the Israeli theater companies that will stage a show at a new theater in the Jewish West Bank city of Ariel following the theater’s opening on Nov. 8. Following the announcement, two Habima actors, Yousef Sweid and Rami Heuberger, said they would not entertain in the Jewish settlements.
"I would be glad to perform in settlements in several shows that have messages I’d like to deliver in many communities. But settlers and settlements are not something that entertains me, and I don’t want to entertain them," Sweid told Israel’s Channel 1.
"If I am asked, I believe I would have a problem with performing there. As a stage actor it is a very, very problematic issue, and I think that so long as settlements are a controversial issue that will be discussed in any (peace) negotiations , I should not be there," Heuberger, who is not currently performing in any show scheduled to be performed in Ariel, told Haaretz.
Be’er Sheva Theater and the Cameri Theater area also scheduled to stage productions in Ariel.
