Richard Wagner

Tel Aviv University on Monday, June 4 denied a request to hold a concert of works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner on its campus. The request was denied due to strong objections by Holocaust survivors, who argued that staging the concert would be an affront to them. Wagner was a vocal antisemite and is generally considered to have been a formative influence on Hitler. The request to hold the concert at Tel Aviv University’s Smolarz Auditorium was submitted about a week ago. But according to university officials, the name of the organization behind the request was concealed from them, as was the plan to dedicate the entire concert to works by Wagner.

—Israel Hayom/JointMedia News Service