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Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer, the daughters of Leon Klinghoffer, have expressed their disapproval of a new opera by the composer John Adams and the librettist Alice Goodman. The work, "The Death of Klinghoffer," is about the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists in 1985, during which Mr. Kling hoffer was murdered.
The opera, which has been performed in Brussels, Vienna and Lyons, France, is running at the Brooklyn Academy of Music through Friday. It also portrays their mother, Marilyn, who died in 1986.
"We are outraged at the exploitation of our parents and the coldblooded murder of our father as the centerpiece of a production that appears to us to be anti-Semitic," the Kling hoffers said in a statement issued by their personal representative, Letty Simon. "While we understand artistic license, when it so clearly favors one point of view it is biased. Moreover, the juxtaposition of the plight of the Palestinian people with the coldblooded murder of an innocent disabled American Jew is both historically naive and appalling."
Ms. Simon said that she released the statement in response to a question from The Los Angeles Times and that the Klinghoffers would have no further comment. The Klinghoffers, who live in Manhattan, had been invited by the Brooklyn Academy to attend a performance of the work, but Ms. Simon said they declined the invitation because they preferred to buy their own tickets and to attend anonymously. They saw the opera on Saturday evening.
Mr. Adams could not be reached for comment, but in interviews before the opera opened last week, he said he thought the work presented a balanced picture of both Jewish and Palestinian concerns.
Ms. Goodman, speaking through a publicity agent at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, said: "Anyone who attends this opera with an unprejudiced mind will perceive that it does honor to the destiny of the Jewish people and to the memory of Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer." Ms. Goodman, who is Jewish, added: "To those who come prepared to see and hear only what they want to see and hear, nothing one can say is of any use."
Harvey Lichtenstein, the president and executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy, also responded to the Klinghoffers' criticism.
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"I understand their sensitivity to this subject," he said in a statement. "However, I do not believe that the work is anti-Semitic. I believe that the Klinghoffers are treated with great sympathy and dignity."
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