Arts organisations up in arms as Met refuse to reinstate global broadcast of controversial opera.

The National Coalition Against Censorship have announced a new co-signer to its statement opposing the cancelled broadcast of The Death of Klinghoffer. As Limelight reported last week, the Metropolitan Opera cancelled its plans for the global broadcast of John Adam’s opera amidst concern it would encourage anti-Semitic sentiment.

The International Committee for Artists’ Freedom has joined with other co-signers including National Opera Association, Article 19, The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Free Expression Policy Project, freeDimensional, Freemuse and Pen American Center. The joint statement calls for the Metropolitan Opera to proceed with the scheduled broadcast, with the extensive list of supporters expected to grow even further in the coming days.

“Cultural institutions can play a crucial role in promoting understanding and peaceful dialogue in a world of conflict, but only if they stand up to pressure groups from all sides,” reads the collaborative statement. “If they don’t, they are likely to become either irrelevant or a tool in the hands of competing political interests.”

In an earlier statement, Peter Gelb, General Manager of The Met, said that he had “received hundreds of emails over the past...