In the months since the Israel-Hamas war, disputes over varying political views and expressions have cost prominent people their jobs. Consequently, many have lost jobs in show business, publishing, and academia. These clashes recently left another famous figure, Santa Claus, out of work.
This sad 2023 Christmas tale occurred in Sag Harbor, a village on Long Island. There, a longtime resident, Ken Dorph, got a job as a volunteer to wear the iconic Santa costume at an event hosted by the local chamber of commerce. According to Dorph, the plan was for Santa to ride majestically atop a fire truck to the village’s picturesque windmill.
There, the spreading of joy would commence. “I normally have a professionally trimmed beard, but I was growing it out,” Dorph said. “I looked like Santa.” Although 70-year-old Dorph played Santa at a 2022 gathering at the town’s cinema, the plan took an unexpected turn.
Three days before the appearance, Mr. Dorph received a heart-breaking email from the chamber of commerce president. According to the email, the president relieved Dorph of his duties. Although she did not explain, she mentioned he was “too outspoken for the gig.”
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However, Dorph said when word got out that he would be Santa last December, people from a local synagogue, Temple Adas Israel, sent a flurry of emails to the event organizers. They objected to his selection, saying he made people uncomfortable during a November 30 talk at the synagogue.
There, Dorph spoke about the Israel-Hamas crisis, sharply criticizing speakers from the American Jewish Committee. He reportedly blasted speakers from the nonprofit advocacy group supporting Jewish people and Israel from his seat in the audience.
“He was very antagonistic, belittling them,” 85-year-old Rona Klopman, a member of the temple who attended the event virtually, said. Although she did not participate in the email campaign, she said, “I could see why people would not be comfortable with him as Santa, who is supposed to be this jolly fellow trying to keep peace in the world.”
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Fluent in Arabic, Mr. Dorph fostered an interest in the Middle East for more than four decades. He said, “Then, at 19, I went to Morocco. The trip was part of a junior year abroad that changed my life.” Afterward, he worked frequently in the region as a consultant in the financial sector.
“I ended up spending years in the Arab world, first as a student, then as a professional,” Dorph said. “I am fluent in Arabic and have worked throughout the Middle East, including being part of repair teams in nations broken by American weapons, including Iraq, Yemen, Syria, the Palestinian territories, and Libya.”
Beyond his day job, Dorph regularly discusses the subject as an expert. He believes people gravely misunderstand Arab cultures and the Middle East. “I love Israel, and I love Palestine,” Dorph said in October at a local speaking engagement. “And I do not think those are contradictory thoughts and emotions.”
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Dorph also revealed that he developed deep and abiding ties with the people from the Arab world. Consequently, given his experience in the region, he often talks about it. “After the horrific Hamas attack and the devastating Israeli response, several friends and neighbors asked what I thought,” Dorph said.
“The tragic relationship between Israelis and Palestinians is not a hurricane or earthquake. It is a human-made problem.” According to Dorph, “It can have human-made solutions. Indeed, we humans are the only ones who can solve it.”
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