At a London theater that used to be a synagogue, an Irish comic reportedly turned on a Jewish member of the audience, repeatedly yelled, “Get the f*** out of here,” and prompted the audience to repeat the chant “Free Palestine.”
Liahav Eitan, an Israeli Jew who moved to London five years ago, attended a show by Paul Currie on Saturday night at the Soho Theatre as a last-minute time filler before going to a dinner celebration of his 33rd birthday. Near the end of the show, Currie unfurled a flag of Ukraine and a flag representing Palestinians, exhorting the crowd to make a standing ovation. When Eitan and his friend remained seated, Eitan said Currie “lingered” on them for roughly five to ten seconds until Eitan said, “Thank you for that Palestine flag.”
Eitan told The Daily Mail that Currie — who had attended a pro-Palestine rally hours before — asked Eitan if he was being sarcastic, then said something like “Okay, well, you’re welcome. You’re welcome for the Palestine flag. It was part of the show,” then added, “Did you enjoy the show?” When Eitan answered “Yes,” Eitan stated, Currie started screaming, “I’m from Belfast. I know everything about ceasefires. Ceasefire now, get the f*** out of my theatre. Get out, get the f*** out of my show, motherf***ers.”
“The only way out was through the stage,” Eitan recalled. “We had to actually get on the stage quite close to him — and I was quite afraid that he’d throw a punch because he was still cursing and shouting. He got out his Palestine flag again and shouted ‘motherf***er you’ll have to watch it again on your way out.’”
Another Jewish member of the audience later told The Daily Beast that “quite a few” audience members stood and shouted, “Free Palestine! Free Palestine! Get the f*** out of here.’” He said that Eitan remained calm, adding, “I think he was incredibly brave because in a room full of 200 people, to be able to say ‘I enjoyed the show until you took out the flag’ I thought was incredibly brave.” He called the experience “quite frightening because there were a lot of people sort of screaming at that time.”
A Met Police spokesman told The Daily Mail, “We are aware of the incident that took place at the Soho Theatre on Saturday evening. We understand why it was upsetting for those involved and we note the venue has issued a statement confirming they are looking into what took place. A report was submitted to police on Monday and inquiries are ongoing.”
The Soho Theatre issued the following statement:
We are sorry and saddened by an incident that took place at our venue at the end of a performance of Paul Currie: Shtoom on Saturday 10 of February which has caused upset and hurt to members of audience attending and others. We take this very seriously and are looking into the detail of what happened as thoroughly, as sensitively, and as quickly as we can. It is important to us that Soho Theatre is welcoming and inclusive place for all.
Other Jews in the audience left the theater, later telling Campaign Against Antisemitism, “It felt like we were welcome in the theatre as long as our identities [as] Jews weren’t known, and the minute our identities were known, we felt threatened.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism stated, “What the Jewish audience members have recounted is atrocious, and we are working with them and our lawyers to ensure that those who instigated and enabled it are held to account. These allegations are of deeply disturbing discriminatory abuse against Jews. Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but hounding Jews out of theatres is reminiscent of humanity’s darkest days, and must have no place in central London in 2024.”
Picture this: a supposed comedy night at the Soho Theatre, London, turns into a shocking display of raw antisemitism. The chief architect of this debacle? Comedian Paul Currie. But let's be clear, this was no laughing matter. It was a grotesque exhibition of prejudice, dressed up… pic.twitter.com/pHubyOdEgf
— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) February 12, 2024