Theater in Australia Bans Holocaust Memorial Night for 'Zionism'

A theater in Australia refused to allow a Jewish student group to host a night of Holocaust remembrance, in an area where such policies are not unprecedented.

A theater in Australia's Sydney refused to allow a series of performances about the Holocaust because it judged the organizer to be supportive of Zionism.

"Our policy does not support ­colonialism/Zionism. Therefore we do not host groups that support the colonisation and occu­pation of Palestine," the theater told the group in an email.

The event, which is organized by Hillel, a non-profit Jewish students and young adults' organization was meant to feature poetry, music and actors' performances in memory of the Holocaust. The Jewish community of Sydney has responded, saying that the organization is apolitical.

"To categorically reject an approach by a Jewish organisation to hire your premises because of a political position that your team holds in relation to an overseas conflict is at best ill-informed and at worst racist and discriminatory," the head of the Jewish Board of Deputies of New South Wales, Vic Alhadeff, told Jewish-oriented Australian news site J-Wire.

The Marrickville municipality, where the theater is located, previously attempted to implement a boycott of Israel which explicitly equated the country with apartheid-era South Africa, according to Australian media.