Danny Glover calls for cultural boycott of Israel
by alethoMa'an - 14/05/2014
BETHLEHEM
- Danny Glover and other actors featured in a US documentary on a
prominent social justice activist protested the film's screening at a
Tel Aviv festival this week, announcing their support for the cultural
boycott of Israel.
In a statement released on Monday,
the group said they "stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine,
and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel" and
were "shocked to find the film slated to be screened" at an Israeli
festival.
"We
immediately took action to have the film withdrawn from the festival,"
the statement added, but highlighted that festival organizers say it was
not "possible" to change the schedule that they would "move forward
with the screening, over our objections."
The
film "American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs," is
scheduled to be shown in Tel Aviv at DocAviv, a festival dedicated to
documentary film which runs through May 17 and purports to be the largest film festival in Israel.
The
group, however, stressed their support for the Palestinian call for
Academic and Cultural Boycott, which was launched in 2004 as part of the
global campaign to boycott, sanction, and divest from the state of
Israel in order to pressure it to end its long-standing occupation of
the Palestinian territories and history of human rights abuses against
Palestinians.
Grace Lee Boggs, the subject of the documentary film, also added her name to the statement supporting the cultural boycott.
As
a long-time advocate of social and racial justice in the United States,
the statement highlighted that she said that screening the film in
Israel "is in direct contradiction to her legacy and ongoing work as a
revolutionary."
"We
will pursue opportunities for this film and the ideas within it to be
made available in Palestine in a way that supports the movement," the
statement added.
The
campaign has scored a number of notable successes in recent years, with
leading US academic and cultural figures coming out in support despite
widespread pro-Israel sentiment in North America.
Supporters
of the boycott believe that after decades of occupation and ethnic
cleansing, international pressure is one of the few ways left to force
Israel to respect Palestinian rights.
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