Hundreds in film industry sign pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions implicated in ‘genocide’

Hundreds of actors and filmmakers sign a petition committing to a boycott of Israeli film institutions they accuse of being implicated in “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

The pledge is signed by several high-profile names, including Olivia Coleman, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, and Cynthia Nixon.

“The world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israel’s occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. So too, we must speak out now against the harm done to the Palestinian people,” the pledge reads.

The former president of the International Court of Justice, Joan Donoghue, clarified in an interview following the ruling that judges did not rule that the court believed it was “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide, but that “the Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide, and that South Africa had the right to present that claim in the court.”

“We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to ‘do everything humanly possible’ to end complicity in their oppression,” the film workers say in their petition.

“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions—including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies—that are implicated* in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” it says.

A separate FAQ site says that there are “a few Israeli film entities that are not complicit.”

“For best practices, we encourage you to seek guidelines set by Palestinian civil society. We also encourage film workers to ask questions and do their own research about any entity they plan to work with,” it reads.