jews d
in
the
Safety
Squeeze
Canceled Noa
concert blurs
artistry and
politics.
A
May 18 concert by internationally known Israeli singer/
songwriter Achinoam Nini, known as Noa, was canceled last
Thursday by Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
In a letter to its membership, synagogue leadership cited security
threats as the reason for its decision to cancel.
“We have been working closely with law enforcement and our
security advisers and have concluded that, based on these threats,
there was a high potential for disruption to the
concert,” the letter states. “In keeping the safety
of our community, our congregation and the per-
formers as our highest priority, we have made the
decision to cancel the concert.”
Adat Shalom Executive Director Alan Yost told
the JN, “When we booked Noa, our sole intent
was to provide Adat Shalom members as well as
the Detroit Jewish community with an evening
Alan Yost
of quality entertainment by an internationally
recognized Israeli entertainer. We knew she was
clearly left-of-center in her political views. That
KERI GUTEN COHEN
STORY DEVELOPMENT EDITOR
TOP: Achinoam Nini,
known as Noa, is an
internationally recognized
Israeli singer.
wasn’t an issue because we were looking to provide an incredible
performer.”
Yost says when Adat Shalom reached out to some Zionist organi-
zations for help in promoting the concert, they declined to partici-
pate because of Noa’s political views. The JN was the media sponsor
for the concert.
“We respected that,” Yost said, “and we decided to continue on.
Then we began to receive a lot of phone calls from individuals voic-
ing significant displeasure with Noa’s appearance based on her
political views and her ‘anti-Israel’ posture.
“Synagogue officers had a couple of conversations with a couple
of individuals to get a feel for what they were looking for. They were
communicating that the only thing acceptable to them as individu-
als was to cancel the concert; if not, [there would be the] possibility
of protests, demonstrations and disruptions of the concert. This was
a constant theme.”
From the conversations, Yost says, there was nothing on the level
of a bomb threat and no use of the word “violent,” but the synagogue
officers were concerned.
The synagogue’s Facebook page was then hit with about “250
negative posts from local and international addresses — all with
the same theme: Cancel the concert,” Yost said. Some posts accused
Adat Shalom of being “traitors” to the State of Israel.
Synagogue leaders consulted with Gary Sikorski, communitywide
security expert for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
and talked with Farmington Hills police.
Federation’s policy is to offer security assistance to partner agen-
cies and community organizations that request it. An organization’s
continued on page 12
10
May 11 • 2017
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