The Al-Midan Theatre in Haifa is producing a play based on the life story of Palestinian terrorist Walid Daka. Photo: Hanay via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The family of murdered Israel Defense Forces soldier Moshe Tamam is demanding that the city of Haifa withdraw public support for the Arab municipal theater Al-Midan over its production of a play based on the life story of Tamam’s killer, Palestinian terrorist Walid Daka, who is currently in prison.

In response to the family’s request, public funds for the theater have been frozen for a month, until a municipality-appointed investigative committee can submit its recommendations.

Tamam’s niece Ortal is spearheading the family’s struggle. She claims that the Al-Midan Theatre deliberately misled the city and submitted a proposal that falsely claimed that the play about Daka had already been performed in other leading theaters in Israel.

After the family looked into the matter, it sent an urgent letter to Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav that included confirmations from the country’s Cameri, Jerusalem, Beit Lessin, ZOA House, and Gan Shmuel theaters—among others—that the play had never been put on at their facilities. The family also included a print-out of an invitation to a “Palestinian Prisoners’ Day” event hosted by Al-Midan that featured details about the play and its background and noted that it had been inspired by Daka.

In the letter to Yahav, Ortal Tamam wrote, “Because I cannot believe that your bureau would knowingly publish false information, I’m afraid that the people from Al-Midan Theater or someone acting in their name sent [the city] inaccurate information to obscure the facts, which is why such a serious mistake happened.”

Tamam concluded her letter to the mayor by writing that she wanted to “set the facts straight and bring [them] to your attention, and ask that you stop the funding for the theater, which is using the money to present the letters of a despicable murderer.”