Mayor de Blasio blasted predecessor Rudy Giuliani for leading protests against the opera “The Death of Klinghoffer.”
The current mayor said it’s not “the American way” to protest against objectionable works of art.
Giuliani famously battled the Brooklyn Museum of Art when the the mayor found some exhibitions to be offensive.
“The former mayor had a history of challenging cultural institutions when he disagreed with their contents – I don’t think that’s the American way. I think the American way is to respect freedom of speech, it’s as simple as that,” de Blasio said in Queens, while touring Superstorm Sandy recovery areas.
“I haven’t seem the opera and I don’t want to judge something I haven’t seen.”
Giuliani and other politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, plan to join the protests before Monday night’s opening curtain of “Klinghoffer,” telling the tale of Leon Klinghoffer’s murder by Palestinian terrorists in 1985.
Critics of the opera have said it gives cover to Klinghoffer’s killers.
De Blasio conceded there’s a disturbing growth of anti-Semitic activities in the world, and particularly western Europe.
“I think there is a serious problem today in the world that has nothing to do with this opera, I’ve spoken about it many times,” he said.
“There’s an anti-semitism problem in this world today, particularly in western Europe that worries me greatly. That’s where my focus is. I don’t think an opera is what the focal point should be right now. I haven’t seen it so, I haven’t commented on it. I’ve heard all sorts of views about it.”
The mayor added: “The only thing I know about the opera is that the Metropolitan Opera has a right to show it.”
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