A popular Broadway
cabaret club has canceled a concert benefiting Black Lives Matter, citing the
movement’s criticism of Israel.
The owners of
Feinstein’s/54 Below, a small performance venue just north of Times Square,
this week emailed ticket buyers to the event, informing them of the
cancellation. In a separate message to participants, the owners cited a
platform released this summer by a coalition of groups affiliated with the
Black Lives Matter movement that declared “Israel is an apartheid state” and
denounced what it described as “the genocide taking place against the
Palestinian people.”
The concert was
scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 11, and would have been directed by
the actress Tonya Pinkins (“Caroline, or Change”).
In the note to
participants, 54 Below said that its owners and managers “strongly believe in
and support the general thrust of the goals and objectives” of the Black Lives
Matter movement.
It continued, “However,
since announcing the benefit they’ve become aware of a recent addition to the
B.L.M. platform that accuses Israel of genocide and endorses a range of boycott
and sanction actions.”
The statement said, “As
we can’t support these positions, we’ve accordingly decided to cancel the
concert.”
The concert cancellation was reported by Playbill. The owners of 54 Below,
through a spokesman, declined to comment further, and spokesmen for Black Lives
Matter did not respond to requests for comment. Ms. Pinkins, in an email, said
that many of the speakers and artists who had planned to participate in the 54
Below event would be at “The Meeting*,” hosted by Justin Sayre, at
Joe’s Pub on Sept. 18; she said some would “give testimony,” and that the
proceeds would benefit Black Lives Matter.
