Kovel at the Coolidge
Joel Kovel’s talk last night at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre mostly filled the 200+ person upper theater. Seeing his name and the title of his book on the marquee - Overcoming Zionism - must have really annoyed many town residents here in the heart of town.
The entrance is to the right of the marquee. Those of us heading to the ticket booth passed by a couple of dozen anti-Kovel protestors from a variety of local Zionist groups, with signs and leaflets.
Prominent were Chuck Morse, a local conservative talk-show host and perennial Republican candidate trying to unseat Barney Frank. In his blog last week he blasted Kovel, and me in passing.
Also on hand was HIllel Stavis, who shows up everywhere trying to drown out anti-Zionists. Here he has just a still camera, but usually he’s videotaping.
So far as I could tell, the protesters complaining about Kovel didn’t bother to come inside to hear what he had to say and maybe even engage in some dialogue. I heard one say he wouldn’t give the organizers $5. So the audience that did come inside was mostly at least sympathetic to some of Kovel’s views and in many cases in full agreement.One questioner at the end asked a few pointed questions, which for the most part Kovel had dealt with in some detail in his book.Throughout Kovel’s talk I could hear the woman behind me tsk-tsking and muttering under her breath to the man. I was hoping she’d ask questions, but they just left when the Q&A began.Kovel’s presentation covered a lot of ground, but didn’t get into some of the earlier parts of his book where he dissects ancient Jewish history and Biblical texts. I think these portions of the book most likely accounted for some of the intense criticism he’s received. Worth reading.During the talk, I sat with an old friend from my Zionist days. She noted that there was a time we would have been outside with the protesters instead. People do change. Reaching out still makes sense.
Technorati Tags: Chuck Morse, Hillel Stavis, Israel, Joel Kovel, one-state solution, Overcoming Zionism, Palestine, Zionism