Theatre in anti-semitic row showed map ‘erasing Israel’

THE London theatre embroiled in an anti-semitism row displayed a map on its website that erased Israel.

The Royal Court Theatre in London issued an apology earlier this month over Al Smith’s play Rare Earth Mettle and changed the name of a character in it after being accused of “unconscious bias” and anti-semitism.

The play, about climate change and global capitalism, centres on a billionaire tech entrepreneur by the stereotypically Ashkenazi Jewish name of Herschel Fink. The character, who is not Jewish in the play, has since been renamed Henry Finn.

Last week it emerged that concerns were raised by a Jewish director about the character’s name two months before it was changed.

Now, it has emerged that the theatre, in Sloane Square, displayed a map on its website for at least six years that was labelled “Palestine”.

It showed towns in Lebanon and Jordan, but not in Israel. The image on the

Royal Court’s website, obtained by The Jewish Chronicle, is no longer available.

The web page now shows users an image of a black square.

It also emerged that a key consultant used by the theatre to provide advice on racism backed a boycott of Israel.

Shoomi Chowdhury, who until June headed a team from the anti-racism consultancy Sour Lemons, signed an open letter calling on Sainsbury’s to stop selling goods made in the Jewish state. “These tactics worked against apartheid South Africa, and they’re starting to work against apartheid Israel too,” the letter said, according to a report in The Jewish Chronicle.

Before the name change of the main character, Edward Einhorn, a Jewish playwright, said: “This nonsense from the Royal Court. Man, the Shylock stereotype is enduring.”

A spokesman for the Royal Court Theatre said: “The maps used on all of the international department’s country pages [were] autogenerated through a Google map link and [not] our creation.”

They did not comment on the appointment of Shoomi Chowdhury.