Wil-Mar Center censors a peace & justice leader.*
Gather this Thursday, 6 pm, sidewalk in front of Wil-Mar Center, 953 Jenifer St., Madison WI – Gilad Atzmon event follows at nearby location
Gilad Atzmon’s great grandmother died in the Nazi holocaust.
But the Wil-Mar Center, citing lies about Atzmon’s views on the holocaust in which his great grandmother died, refuses to let him speak. Atzmon’s talk in Madison this Thursday, scheduled for the Wil-Mar Center, was abruptly cancelled less than one week before the event. Wil-Mar Center Executive Director Gary Kallas emailed the organizers stating that Atzmon was censored because he “advocates for a particular type of discrimination visa vie documented views of denying the 20th century Holocaust.”
In fact, Atzmon does not deny any facts about any of the many 20th century holocausts. But he insists that events in the past must be treated in an open scholarly manner as opposed to religion. Atzmon opposes all forms of history laws. He probably prefers to remember his grandmother as a victim of the larger holocaust, World War II—which killed 60 million innocent people—rather than giving her special status because she, unlike more than 50 million other innocent victims of that horrific war, happened to be Jewish.
Atzmon, the celebrated Israeli-born jazz musician and philosopher, left Israel because he was unwilling to participate in the ongoing holocaust of Palestinians. He is aligned with the best Jewish ethics whose slogan is: “Never again—for anybody!”
Please come to Madison this Thursday, May 10, to honor Gilad Atzmon. We will meet between 6 and 6:30 pm at the corner of Jenifer and Brearly Streets, in front of the Wil-Mar Center. Then at 6:30 we will go to a nearby location to hear Gilad’s talk and live music. (Someone will remain in front of the Wil-Mar til 7 pm to guide latecomers to the new location.) Complimentary hand-made natural-organic gourmet exotic delicacies will be served.
---
Below is the email exchange in which Gary Kallas announced Wil-Mar’s censorship of Gilad Atzon to an event organizer:
Hello ***,
Upon further review of your event, we have decided to implement our policy right to cancel the room reservation of Thursday, May 10, 2018 and ask that you please refrain from publicizing the event.
We will return your $30.00 deposit to you in one of two ways, either by mail or you can stop by the center.
We have the following address listed ***. Is this accurate?
Or you can stop by the Center located at 953 Jenifer Street, Madison.
Sincerely,
Gary Kallas
p.s. myself, or Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center staffers cc’d can answer any questions.
Gary Kallas
Executive Director
Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center
608-257-4576 ext. 10
From: ***
Sent: Thursday, May 3, 2018 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: we are reserving our right to cancel next Thursday reservation
And what is the reason?
Hello ***
We are a small not-for-profit serving the City of Madison Isthmus community but we adhere to governing policies to the best of our abilities.
Our decision is premised on the following facility use policy:
“Wil-Mar reserves the right to deny and revoke reservations to any group that participates in and supports discrimination, oppression, and/or violence against a person or group based on age, gender, race, religion, political views, health status, orientation, and identity.”
It is the very nature of people to continue learning and enlightened to new information and knowledge.
In this context, it has come to our organizations’ staff and governing leadership attention that the evening’s speaker advocates for a particular type of discrimination visa vie documented views of denying the 20th century Holocaust.
Hence, the implementation of our policy privilege that states:
“Wil-Mar reserves the right to revoke any individual or group use of the facility at any time. “
Sincerely,
Gary
Gary Kallas
Executive Director
Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center
608-257-4576 ext. 10
From: ***
Sent: Friday, May 4, 2018 8:46 AM
Subject: Re: we are reserving our right to cancel next Thursday reservation
Hi Gary,
I think your information is incorrect. None of the organizers of this event have seen any indication that Gilad Atzmon advocates for any kind of discrimination. Otherwise we would not have invited him. Since you are accusing him of very bad things, can you please document them?
Hi ***,
Gary
Gary Kallas
Executive Director
Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center
608-257-4576 ext. 10
Sent: Friday, May 4, 2018 11:40 AM
Subject: Re: we are reserving our right to cancel next Thursday reservation
Hello Gary,
We just spoke with Gilad. He says the ADL and Wikipedia entries are false. Here is his detailed explanation:
He does not deny the holocaust. He operates music schools in Germany and Austria, which have strict laws against holocaust denial, and he would be charged and imprisoned if he denied the holocaust.
Gilad has been repeatedly honored for his human rights work. He is #5 on this list of peace and justice leaders who exemplify the values of Dr. Martin Luther King:
He has also earned many honors for his work for Palestinian civil rights.
He is at (***)***-**** and will be happy to speak with you during the next few hours, or at any convenient time.
Hi ***,
This is not a discussion I seek to engage in. We do not seek nor is it our role to arbitrate disputes between Wikipedia and Gilad and reserve our right to cancel this meeting.
Sincerely,
Gary
Gary Kallas
Executive Director
Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center
608-257-4576 ext. 10
