The writers of a controversial and acclaimed play about the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and massacre of Israelis by Hamas fighters plan to challenge New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to attend when it opens at his alma mater in Maine.
Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney said they would invite Mamdani to the Sept. 18 showing of October 7 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.
“It is important to us that October 7 the play is verbatim. There is no editorializing. There is no drama added. It’s just the truth. We are inviting Zohran Mamdani to come to the performance. Does he have the courage to attend? Let’s see,” said McAleer.
Mamdani, the leader in the mayoral race, founded Students for Justice in Palestine when he was a student. He graduated from Bowdoin in 2014.
The same group held pro-Palestinian protests there after the Oct. 7 attack, joining with other top colleges in hosting student sit-ins. Some 50 students faced disciplinary action for hosting an “encampment.”
The play has won media attention and praise for offering verbatim recollections of those attacked. The couple interviewed victims after the event.
“It has never been more important for students to know the truth about Oct. 7. Every day, there is a diet of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish propaganda being spread on campuses across the United States. We don’t want to shut down debate, but we want people to know what happened on Oct. 7 and that people were at peace on Oct. 6. There can be no conversation about the war in Gaza without first discussing what happened in Israel on Oct. 7. This was a massacre of innocent men, women, and children,” said McAleer.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
Bowdoin Conservatives is sponsoring the event along with the Combatting Hate and Antisemitism Initiative. Zak Asplin, president of Bowdoin Conservatives, said, “Just days after the attack, already the narrative was being manipulated. Nearly two years on, the prevailing sentiment on America’s college campuses is one of denial. Bowdoin is no exception: last semester, Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine hijacked and encamped in our student union. Bowdoin’s faculty continues to harbor a professor who has publicly stated that ‘those who engage in armed struggle … are heroic’ while referring to Hamas fighters just one month after the October 7th massacre.”
The play premiered in New York City at the Actors Temple Theatre, running from May 2 to June 16, 2024, where it drew sold-out audiences.
