BBC Radio says no to ‘anti-Semitic’ play

It seems the BBC is in a tangle over Israel again. In January, the Corporation controversially refused to run an emergency fund-raising appeal for the victims of Israel's incursion into Gaza, claiming that it might open them up to criticisms of bias. Now it risks a similar furore by declining to broadcast a new stage play about Israeli history, written by the award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill (pictured).

The work in question, Seven Jewish Children, which recently finished a short run at the Royal Court Theatre, was submitted to Jeremy Howe, Radio 4's drama commissioning editor. But while he and the station's controller, Mark Damazer, thought it was a "brilliant piece", they decided it would not be appropriate to air it.

In an email to an unspecified recipient reproduced in today's Guardian, Howe wrote: "It is a no, I am afraid. Both Mark and I think it is a brilliant piece, but after discussing it with editorial policy we have decided we cannot run with it on the grounds of impartiality. I think it would be nearly impossible to run a drama that counters Caryl Churchill's view. Having debated long and hard we have decided we can't do Seven Jewish Children."

When asked about the email, the BBC said in a statement: "This play was not commissioned and no indication was given it would be broadcast. After due consideration, we felt it would not work for our audience."

Churchill's 10-minute play consists of seven short scenes in which Israeli adults discuss how they will explain to children, who are never seen on stage, seven key moments in Israeli and Jewish history. This includes the Holocaust, the first Intifada and the present-day bombing of Gaza. According to Churchill, the play explores "the difficulties of explaining violence to children".

The Guardian, citing BBC sources, says a significant factor in the decision was the controversy stirred up by the play during its theatre run. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph published last month, a number of prominent British Jews condemned the Royal Court for staging the play, which they said portrayed Israeli parents as "inhuman triumphalists". The Jewish Chronicle claimed it was anti-Semitic. However, the Times said the play had "no heroes and villains" while the Guardian theatre critic, Michael Billington, said it showed "theatre's power to heighten consciousness and articulate moral outrage".