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UK group Artists for Palestine UK (APUK) in support of a British youth theatre, gaining backing from prominent UK artists, following backlash from a pro-Israel group who have criticised its productions.

The Brighton based ThirdSpace Theatre Company has come under scrutiny from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which accused the group of promoting "antisemitic and pro-terror overtones" and called for an "investigation" into its activities. 

The company’s upcoming production, Let It Be a Tale, set to premiere in venues across the city ahead of Christmas, has drawn particular criticism from pro-Israel figures.  

Activists and creatives have since warned of attempts to shut down the upcoming showing of the play, which is by the company as "weaving folk stories from Ukraine, North and West Africa, the Middle East, and beyond". 

One of the main aspects of the play pro-Israel activists have objected to has been the title which draws inspiration from a poem penned by  Gaza poet and academic, Refaat Alareer. He was killed by Israel in an airstrike in December 2023 along with six members of his family. 

UKLFI alleged that the poem’s theme of kites was "extremely offensive and intimidating to any Jewish participant" and claimed it was "obviously redolent of the burning kites and the machine gun-wielding paragliders" – a reference to the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. 

ThirdSpace’s artistic director, Tanushka Marah told °®Âþµº that she found "some of the alleged reasons for wanting to censor our work right now really spurious, like the mention of kites is now offensive, apparently."

She has also acknowledged the growing support from predominantly Jewish-led groups and arts organisations in response to the allegations and emphasised the importance of using art as a tool to "be part of changing the tide" and to amplify underrepresented stories.

Stifling conversations on justice

APUK accused UKLFI of stifling "conversation on crucial questions of justice, war, and human rights," and urged arts funders and Brighton and Hove Council to maintain their support for ThirdSpace and to oppose any efforts to restrict or cancel its projects.  

Farhana Sheikh, one of the founding members of APUK, told °®Âþµº that the criticism against the theatre company were based on "ridiculous accusations", asserting that "artists and their audiences have got wise to these slurs."

"The genocide in Gaza is the greatest political and moral question of our time, yet woe betide the artists who try to address it," she said.

Defending the upcoming production, Sheikh underlined that Let it Be a Tale seeks to connect the Palestinian experience with that of other marginalised communities, highlighting the shared suffering of societies ravaged by war.  

"Those who attack companies like ThirdSpace don’t want these connections to be made," she said. 

"They don't think that Palestinians deserve the sympathy and solidarity that other humans do. In this context, we need to talk about anti-Palestinian racism."

APUK’s campaign has since garnered support from prominent figures in Britain’s arts community, including writer Michael Rosen, actors Billy Howle and Khalid Abdalla, and playwrights Caryl Churchill and Tanika Gupta, who have endorsed the statement. 

'A relentless campaign'

Tanushka Marah told °®Âþµº that she views attacks on the theatre as part of ongoing efforts to target her political advocacy.  

Marah clarified that her personal views do not represent the official stance of the theatre company. 

The award-winning British-Palestinian-Jordanian theatre director previously ran as an in this year’s UK general election. 

During her campaign, Marah strongly advocated for ending the war on Gaza while criticising Israel's military actions.  

She previously instances of her campaign office in Hove being vandalised and her team facing harassment and misinformation campaigns by pro-Israel activists. 

"I believe this is a personal target on me, as I stood in the general election as a ceasefire candidate, which made me very visible. So I believe there is an attempt to discredit my work now the election is over," Marah said. 

Marah described the current controversy as part of "a relentless campaign" to tear down her work in politics and the creative arts.

"Art is sometimes, I know for me very personally [with] the grief and the disbelief I feel in the last year, that art is a place of refuge, a place of creativity," she added. 

"I have a nine-year-old and a 15-year-old and the nine-year-old has been asking about Gaza all year. They pick up things. They understand. So they know that there's wars and injustice out there. 

"So trying to turn it into a children's show is a way of not trying to hide it but make it understandable. And offer hope, offer beauty. That's what we do as artists."

Activists rally to support debut of Let It Be a Tale 

When approached for comment, UKLFI told °®Âþµº that it "has not only raised concerns about the forthcoming production of Let it Be a Tale, but also about several other incidents at the ThirdSpace theatre."

The pro-Israel group claimed that a Jewish child, who had been a member of ThirdSpace for five years, felt compelled to leave due to "anti-Israel propaganda" he was allegedly being exposed to.  

Despite pushback by pro-Israel advocates, several activist groups have extended their solidarity to ThirdSpace ahead of the company’s debut of Let It Be a Tale. 

Rachel Peterson, a member of the Jewish-led group in Brighton, who spoke to °®Âþµº, said she was eagerly anticipating the debut of the show.  

She reiterated that Marah is not anti-Semitic, adding that she would "never create a show that contained any kind of antisemitism."

"UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) say that the performance contains 'antisemitic and pro-terror overtones' but there is no evidence of this," Peterson said. 

"I am supporting Third Space’s Let it Be a Tale because I support the company’s efforts to engage with young people on important issues of justice and human rights" she continued. 

Peterson expressed concerns about "the Israeli government's ongoing genocide of the Palestinians" and highlighted the growing number of Jewish people in the UK speaking out against the military offensive that has killed over 45,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. 

She stressed that voices of the disenfranchised in Palestine and beyond need to be amplified, which she believes can be achieved through various ways, from protests to music and theatre.

"In this context, arts organisations like ThirdSpace play a crucial role in addressing issues of social justice, war, and human rights in their performances," Peterson said. 

"I'm very much looking forward to seeing the show."