PACBI Statement
Fakhri Hamad: Boycott the Haifa International Film Festival
normal"> color:black">Mr. Fakhri Hamad normal"> color:black">Director, Cinema Jenin normal"> color:black">Occupied Jenin normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">Dear Mr. Hamad,
normal"> color:black">The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), which is an integral part of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, is deeply disturbed by the announced participation of the film you have co-produced, After the Silence[1], in the Haifa International Film festival [2], in clear violation of the guidelines adopted by Palestinian civil society for the cultural boycott of Israel [3]. We strongly urge you to withdraw your film from this festival and refrain from showing it at any other Israeli festival that is subject to the cultural boycott. normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">HIFF, as you know, is sponsored by an Israeli government ministry, the Haifa Municipality, and several Israeli banks and companies that are deeply implicated in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights [4]. The festival serves to re-brand Israel by whitewashing its crimes with a mask of cultural vibrancy. HIFF is, therefore, a clearly boycottable event. Moreover, showing your film at HIFF constitutes an act of normalization [5] that is in conflict with the near consensus among Palestinian cultural workers and institutions that are in support of the cultural boycott of Israel and its complicit institutions [6]. normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">Some leading international filmmakers of the caliber of Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, John Greyson, Jean-Luc Godard and The Yes Men, have all heeded -- and some of them have explicitly endorsed -- our cultural boycott call and refused to help Israel’s re-branding efforts. We expect Palestinian filmmakers and artists to lend all the support they can give to further widen international support for the boycott, not to undermine it by giving Israel a fig leaf to thwart boycott initiatives [7]. We urge you to maintain unity among Palestinian artists and cultural institutions in support of this boycott, which is our strongest asset, and not to undercut the fast growing cultural boycott of Israel which has proven to be a very effective form of supporting the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">From our previous correspondence with you, PACBI felt that we had reached an understanding on the issues of normalization and cultural boycott as a peaceful form of resisting the occupation and other Israeli violations of Palestinian rights. On 2 August 2010, PACBI wrote to you to congratulate you on the re-opening of Cinema Jenin, despite the Israeli occupation and its repression, and to call your attention to the fact that your institution’s partnering with Cinephil [8], an Israeli company, violates the boycott guidelines. In your response to us on 3 August 2010, you assured us of your support for the cultural boycott against Israel and that the relationship with Cinephil is indirect and temporary. You wrote that Cinephil is mentioned only because of its relationship with a German company in co-producing the film Heart of Jenin, and that as soon as the project is over their name would be removed from the sponsor’s page. As of today, Cinephil’s name is still prominent among Cinema Jenin’s sponsors. normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">In that same letter, you asked PACBI to accept you and the Cinema Jenin project as “a new soldier in the [Palestinian] Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel,” assuring us that “you will find us devoted and committed to our role in resisting the occupation and its tools.” It is based on this touching expression of support that we appeal to you to withdraw your film from HIFF. We look forward to your positive response. normal"> color:black"> normal"> color:black">PACBI normal"> mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">www.pacbi.org normal"> minor-bidi;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">[2] mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:
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mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;color:black"> (in English) and mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
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