Once a Leftist, Always a Leftist

For some unknown reason, Tablet magazine resurrects an article from the 1960s in which actor/singer Theodore Bikel rejects the SNCC for rejecting Israel.

Fast forward several decades, and Bikel's support for Israel, in line with the Left's support for it, veers in an entirely different direction:

This year’s brouhaha centers on the opening of a new cultural center in Ariel, built with more than $10 million of public funds. More than 50 Israeli theater professionals signed a petition in late August saying that they will not perform in the new cultural center when it opens in November. The boycott also has attracted the support of at least 150 Israeli academics and authors. 

But several major Israeli theaters are scheduled to stage productions there this year, and top Israeli governmental leaders have slammed the boycott. 

Jewish celebrities again are jumping into the fight — but on the side of the artists taking aim at Israeli policy. 

More than 150 American television and film artists have signed a letter in support of the Israeli artists’ boycott. Signatories include actor Ed Asner of "Lou Grant" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda on "Sex and the City,” as well as playwright Tony Kushner and actors Mandy Patinkin and Theodore Bikel.

Question for Tablet: who cares what Bikel thought in the '60s if, on the subject of Israel, he ended up seeing eye-to-eye with Tony Kushner?