NYC-funded puppet show turns into Israel bashing hatefest: Came out of nowhere

A Jewish mother who took her 4-year-old son to what she thought would be a family-friendly puppet show in Lower Manhattan earlier this month was horrified when the performance morphed into an Israel-bashing disgrace, she told The Post.“The Cardboard Pizza Puppet Circus,” a show created and performed by puppet troupe the Boxcutter Collective that the ensemble describes as “a celebration of” New York City, was featured at this year’s International Puppet Fringe Festival, a multi-day celebration sponsored in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.“Featuring dancing skyscrapers, giant rats, fossil-fuel-fighting flowers, a live brass band, and Lady Liberty herself,” the show’s description reads.But 15 minutes into the Aug.

13 performance, the show shifted from covering New York-centric topics into controversial political positions against the Jewish state, said the Brooklyn mom, 43, who declined to be named.“The anti-Israel stuff came out of nowhere,” the mom said.“It went from pizza rat and parallel parking to accusations of Israel bombing hospitals.”The “packed” courtyard show, which the mom said was performed to a crowd of about 200 and ran for about an hour, included a skit with eight performers recreating a flotilla, which was met with enthusiastic jeers against Israel from audience members.

At another point, remarks were made about American tax dollars going to Israel, she said.“How does anti-Israel propaganda figure into a play that’s otherwise entirely about New York? Is hatred for Israel as synonymous with the City’s brand as pizza rat?” asked the “proud Zionist” mom, adding that her 4-year-old son “kept asking what was happening when he saw I was taken aback.”A Soviet Union refugee who now resides in Windsor Terrace, the mother said her “heart was racing,” as she watched many in the crowd appear to agree with “the litany of accusations” made against I...