Yet another important story dies a death in the MSM! Dies? It hasn't even reached the MSM except for a single story in last week's Guardian. At InI, I've tried to keep you informed as best as I can on the events surrounding the 'postponing' of the play's launch in New York. Counterpunch carried a story penned by Vanessa Redgrave, 'The Second Death of Rachel Corrie' and WSWS has one, 'Capitulation to Zionist censors -
Play on Rachel Corrie canceled by New York theater group' By Peter Daniels, 3 March 2006.

According to Nicola [NYTW's artistic director] , he polled local Jewish religious and community leaders in New York, and “the uniform answer we got was that the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy.”

The New York Theatre Workshop deny that they cancelled the play (see 'Regarding MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE'), claiming that

With a schedule largely driven by director Alan Rickman’s pre-existing film commitments, we had less than two months to consider mounting the production. In even attempting this unusually short timeline, this theatre distinguished itself from most others.

When we found that there was a very strong possibility that a number of factions, on all sides of a political conflict, would use the play as a platform to promote their own agendas, we asked a rather routine question, or so we thought, to our London colleagues about altering the time frame. Our intent in asking for the postponement was to allow us enough time to contextualize the work so Rachel Corrie’s powerful voice could best be heard above the din of others shouting for their own purposes.

A statement not borne out by Alan Rickman's comments in a Guardian article

A New York theatre company has put off plans to stage a play about an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza because of the current "political climate" - a decision the play's British director, Alan Rickman, denounced yesterday as "censorship".
'Rickman slams 'censorship' of play about US Gaza activist',  Julian Borger,The Guardian, Tuesday February 28, 2006

New York's Broadway.com carried a short piece

New York Theater Workshop was expected to present the play next month, but the show was never officially announced for New York and it is no longer scheduled to happen. According to Viner, writing in today's (1/3/06) Guardian, "The flights for cast and crew had been booked; the production schedule delivered; the press announcement drafted and approved; tickets advertised on the internet." But, she adds, "the political climate, we were told, had changed dramatically since the play was booked."

"Political climate"? Newspeak for censorship! I think it's a perfect illustration of the success of Israeli propaganda in silencing voices of opposition for fear of being condemned as "anti-Semitic". Yet another sad day for a largely servile 'left' and worse still, where are those voices in the artistic community, who in the past, quite rightly, condemned censorship in the Soviet Union and elsewhere? Let them speak now or forever hold their tongues!