The organisers of a Palestinian literature event cancelled by a Manchester theatre last week, say they are “hugely grateful” the venue has agreed it can go ahead after a surge of support.
Home theatre apologised for the upset caused by cancelling Voices of Resilience, due to be held on 22 April, citing “recent publicity” and safety concerns for the organisers and those attending.
On Wednesday evening, nearly 100 artists withdrew their work from an exhibition at the theatre in support of Comma Press, the organiser of the event about the experiences of Palestinians who have escaped the war in Gaza.
This followed a protest on Saturday outside the arts space and a letter signed by nearly 300 artists, including Maxine Peake and Asif Kapadia.
Home cancelled Voices of Resilience after a letter from the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester (JRCGM) that claimed one of the speakers, the writer Atef Abu Saif, who is the Palestinian Authority’s culture minister, had engaged in antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The event’s organiser, Comma Press, said it was considering legal action, calling the allegations against Saif “baseless and libellous” and citing a number of examples where he had written about the Holocaust, describing it as one of the “darkest moments in human history” which “cannot be forgiven or tolerated”.
The JRCGM letter also objected to the use of the word “genocide” in the marketing for the event, which features speakers who have family among the 33,000 Palestinians that the Hamas-run health ministry says have been killed by Israel since the 7 October Hamas attack last year, in which about 1,200 people died.
In a statement announcing the return of Voices of Resilience, Home said the initial choice to cancel it had been “difficult”.
“We recognise how deeply this decision has affected communities and groups across Manchester and beyond, and we apologise for any distress or upset caused. We support Palestinian and all community voices, and acknowledge that we can learn from how this was handled. We regret that this has had such wide-reaching impacts.”
The venue added: “Home has always been a space for all voices, with a commitment to championing equality and diversity at the heart of our work. This commitment has never changed, and we recognise that there is work to be done now to restore the well-earned confidence that our audiences and artists have always held in Home.”
Comma Press called the reinstatement of the event “a potential watershed moment in the campaign against the intimidation that arts venues face for showcasing Palestinian artists and voices”.
The organisers said they were “hugely grateful” for Home’s commitment to support political work and foster greater community cohesion during what had been “a distressing time.
“We’ve been deeply moved and overwhelmed by the solidarity shown to us by the artist community in Manchester, whose actions in protest and support of Voices of Resilience stand as a testament to the strength of our collective voice.”
