Oren Safdie Lost His Job at a Montreal Theatre Company

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Oren Safdie is the son of the famous American-Canadian-Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, who first came to the world’s attention for his Habitat 67, a residential structure that he designed as the Canadian Pavilion for the World Exposition of 1967. He is himself a playwright, and until recently he was employed by a small theatre company in Montreal, by name Infinithéâtre. He is Jewish, and a Canadian-Israeli. He was recently discharged by his boss, the company’s artistic director, who had previously displayed on social media a deep anti-Israel animus. More on Safdie’s firing can be found here: “The Artistic Director of a Theatre Posted Hateful Comments About Israel — And I Lost My Position,” by Oren Safdie, Algemeiner, December 12, 2024:

We tend to think of today’s antisemites and Israel-haters as the masked protesters trying to intimidate Jewish students on university campuses, or perhaps the professors who sympathize with Hamas and refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

But there’s another kind of person who lurks beneath the surface, who cleverly knows how to spew hatred about Israel but remains outside the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. They might even be soft-spoken and are usually supportive of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yet, in a moment of weakness — perhaps after they’ve been watching the horrible images coming from Gaza — they can’t help themselves and take to social media.

This was the case with the artistic director of a small independent theatre company in Montreal, who in January 2023 posted an open letter to members of Parliament on his Facebook page.

It started on an empathetic note: “My stomach churns as I write to you on what should be a peaceful Saturday morning … I cherish all members of my community. I value mutual understanding, empathy, dialogue, creative solutions and facing conflicts from a starting point of love and an attempt to listen to and understand each other.”

Adding a measure of protection, he continued: “I wish to be clear. I have many dear friends that are Jewish, and many that are Israeli … The people of Israel are NOT their government.” (But in a democracy, yes, many of them are. And even amongst those critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, almost all Israelis support the war against Hamas in Gaza — which is a war for Israel’s survival.)

And then the artistic director let it rip: “Israel is actively annihilating the people of Gaza … The government of Israel needs to be BETTER than HAMAS.”

“They have shockingly pulled the wool over our eyes as they unapologetically destroy families and blindly and recklessly murder and maim innocent civilians.”…

These are the hysterical ravings of someone consumed with hate.

I’ve served this theatre company as the director of new play development and an associate artist for the past four years. My responsibilities as an independent contractor included chairing a five-person jury for a competition to select the best new plays by Quebec playwrights, as well as running a youth playwriting contest, which I initiated, and trust they will let me continue.

The news of my removal from jury duty came via email on October 23.

“There is a long list of folks around town that have very little work and creative outlets at the moment, and I feel it’s the right thing to bring in a fresh new jury for this year’s competition,” it read. (In the past, the other four jury positions were rotated.)

By that logic, shouldn’t the artistic director step aside in order to give other unemployed artistic directors an opportunity?…

I’m not an advocate for censorship, but there’s a larger question here: how can the leader of a company or organization publicly make damning, hateful, inaccurate and out-of-context statements about some of the most complicated matters of the day and remain objective about hiring or firing employees — especially when they’re members of groups that the leader publicly maligns, like myself.

Interestingly, when I brought forward my concerns about the artistic director’s statement to the company’s board of directors, suggesting that he should at least acknowledge that his criticisms of Israel may have gone too far, my request was unanimously rejected.

Montreal was recently rocked by violent protests laden with antisemitic overtones that made headlines around the world.

That hate didn’t arise from nowhere.

The usual hypothetical: imagine that Oren Safdie had been not Jewish, but black. Imagine further that the artistic director of the Infinithéâtre, who, I have discovered through an Internet search, is a certain Zach Frazer, had posted on social media not anti-Israel or antisemitic remarks — such as accusing Israelis of “annihilating” the Gazans, and of being “no better” than Hamas, and Jews of “pulling the wool” over the world’s eyes — but rather, anti-black remarks. And that, furthermore, when Safdie brought his complaints about these anti-black comments by Frazer to the theatre’s board of directors, nothing was done. Instead, Frazer summarily fired Safdie. What an uproar there would have been. And what silence there is now, in the real world, about Frazer’s social media posts and his firing, without cause, Oren Safdie.

Goodbye, Infinithéâtre. We’ll take our custom elsewhere.