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 dramatic expression of asserted Palestinian historical grievances generated criticism of the opera's alleged sympathy with Palestinian terrorism. Others accused the creators of anti-Semitism for their portrayal of fictional Jewish-American neighbours of the Klinghoffers, the Rumors, in a scene in the original version. The couple were characterized in a way many Jews believed to be offensive and inappropriately satirical. The New York Times theater critic Edward Rothstein was particularly scathing in describing the scene and its place in the play; he described it as expressing "scorn of American Jews and anybody else without mythic claims on the world's attention" while eliminating altogether the Israeli position, asking rhetorically "Who could tell from this work just what the Jewish side really isa sort of touristy attachment to an ancient land?" Following the American premiere, Adams deleted this scene, while revising his opera for all future productions. Following the September 11 attacks, the Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled a scheduled performance in November 2001 of extracts from the opera. This was partly in deference to a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, who lost a family member on one of the hijacked planes, as well as due to perceptions that the work was overly sympathetic to terrorists. In a widely discussed New York Times article, Richard Taruskin defended the orchestra's action. He denounced Adams and the opera for "romanticizing terrorists". John Rockwell of The New York Times, in a review of the Penny Woolcock film version, countered that the opera ultimately "shows unequivocally that murder is nothing more than that, vicious and unconscionable". Adams responded to Taruskin's criticisms on a number of occasions, including this 2004 statement: Not long ago our attorney general, John Ashcroft, said that anyone who questioned his policies on civil rights after September 11 was aiding terrorists; what Taruskin said was the aesthetic version of that. If there is an aesthetic viewpoint that does not agree with his, it should not be heard. I find that very disturbing indeed. In a more academic analysis, musicologist Robert Fink countered Taruskin's accusations of antisemitism, with particular reference to the deleted scene with the Rumor family. Fink has discussed how the removal of this scene disrupted the original dramaturgical structure of the opera, as the singers of the members of