‘Felt like a lynch mob,’ mom of 4-year-old says of NYC-funded festival, in which performer accuses Israel of ‘war crimes’

A Brooklyn Jewish mom expected an entertaining outing when she took her 4-year-old to a recent puppet festival. Instead, she found herself and her son listening to a recitation of Israel’s “war crimes” and keffiyah-clad performers taking part in a Gaza flotilla during a show billed as being about the quirks of living in New York City.The performances were part of International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC, which is partially funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts, and took place in lower Manhattan from Aug. 12 to 16.“They started with relatable New York skits, like about the pizza rat,” the mom, who declined to be named “because of the current environment,” told JNS, of a viral video of a rat dragging a discarded slice of pizza in a city subway station.Another skit was about the perils of parking on New…
A Jewish mother and her 4-year-old son attended the International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC, partially funded by New York City and State, where a performance included accusations of Israeli “war crimes” and a depiction of a Gaza flotilla. The mother, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, described the experience as “pretty nauseating” and “felt like a lynch mob” when audience members chanted “shame, shame” during the anti-Israel segment. Manuel Morán, the festival's founder, stated that “theater and puppetry have always been political art forms” and that organizers may not have known the full content in advance, emphasizing artistic freedom while noting a Jewish group also performed.
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