Tel Aviv unwanted in Toronto?

September 6, 2009 - 11:22 AM by

Jane Fonda's Barbarella stands up against Palestinian oppression.

Jane Fonda's Barbarella stands up against Palestinian oppression.

Misguided protests from loopy bastions of the artistic Left over Israel’s policies regarding the conflict with the Palestinians have resulted in a new height of absurdity.

Some 50 artists, actors and filmmakers, including Jane Fonda, Wallace Shawn, David Byrne and filmmaker Ken Loach, have accused the Toronto Film Festival in an open letter of protest of “complicity with the Israeli propaganda machine” over its spotlight this year of Tel Aviv.

The City-to-City program at the festival, which runs from September 10-19, is highlighting Israeli films like Kirot, Jaffa by Keren Yedaya, The Bubble by Eytan Fox, and Phobodilia by Yoav and Doron Paz, films with festival co-director Cameron Bailey “explore and critique the city from many different perspectives.”

However the open letter by the artists, prompted by Canadian filmmaker John Greyson pulling his short film “Covered” from the festival, claims that the program “ignores the suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants of the Tel Aviv/Jaffa area who currently live in refugee camps in the Occupied Territories.”

“Looking at modern, sophisticated Tel Aviv without also considering the city’s past and the realities of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, would be like rhapsodizing about the beauty and elegant lifestyles in white-only Cape Town or Johannesburg during apartheid without acknowledging the corresponding black townships of Khayelitsha and Soweto.”

Are these people serious? When did everything that happens in Tel Aviv, or any other part of Israel, suddenly get tied like a pretzel to the conditions of Palestinians? Even Bailey, in defending the decision to focus on Tel Aviv admitted that “Tel Aviv is not a simple choice and the city remains contested ground.”

Does that mean that Tel Aviv is occupied territory?

As the New York Times reported, “One thing is certain: What might have been one of the festival’s less noticed film series is going to get some attention when it opens on Sept. 11 with an 8:45 a.m. screening of “A History of Israeli Cinema, Part 1,” directed by Raphael Nadjari.”

Comments

8 Comments on Tel Aviv unwanted in Toronto?

  1. Rebecca on Sun, Sep 6th 2009 5:14 PM
  2. I suspect that people like these would simply like to ban all Israeli films from film festivals – along with any other Israeli artistic endeavors. This is part of the international boycott campaign – as far as I can tell, these people don’t believe that Israel has a right to exist (certainly if they say that Tel Aviv is “contested”) and thus no Israeli artists should appear at any international venue.

  3. k on Tue, Sep 8th 2009 7:43 AM
  4. It’s sad how people get brainwashed into thinking that Israel is evil and bad when there are some horrible massacres going on around the world that all of those so-called “activists” don’t even care about. They’re so brainwashed by the anti-Semites that they are acting in exactly the same way as it was in the Holocaust.

    Banning movies is just as bad as saying, “we’re not letting you in because you’re Israeli”. The funny thing is that the majority of the Israeli film industry is left leaning so the movies would be successful and well-received around the world, so calling this “propaganda” is simply ignorant.

    There are some countries in the world that would actually deserve a ban like this, yet I don’t believe in this act at all. It is just as bad as banning people based on race. In sports it is easy to recognize discrimination, but unfortunately, it exists here as well and just parades around as “activism”.

  5. Mikep on Wed, Sep 9th 2009 3:13 PM
  6. And then there was the person, just convicted of killing his parents, pleading with the judge to show mercy because his was an orphan.

    Would the leftist activists launch protests against the judge for not feeling sympathy for the poor orphan? After all, that display of naiveté would be consistent with their regarding the plight of Palestinian Arabs. Arab leaders refused to alleviate their situation by allowing resettlement or allocating resources to improve living conditions rather than for continuous attempts to destroy the Jewish state of Israel. There have been one hundred million refugees have since World War I and the only ones prevented from rising from that status have been the Palestinian Arabs. Documented facts or perspective?

  7. edith cord on Wed, Sep 9th 2009 3:13 PM
  8. Imagine the descendants of the Holocaust speaking about Germany as the Palestinian descendants speak today: Imagine the survivors, their childlren, grandchildren or great grand children claiming refugee status, demanding hand outs from the UN and from the rest of the world, imagine if they continued to harass Germany and Austria with every weapon at their command, imagine if they told Germans now living in their former homes that they had to get out, imagine that they persisted in continuing in Displaced Persons Camps dependent on charity, imagine that they would enlist the media, movie actors and even governments to demean Germany at nauseam, imagine them launching a propaganda campaign against all the Muslim countries they were forced to leave, together with their homes, businesses and roots – just imagine! Would you think it absurd? hateful? self-serving? Imagine the Germans driven from their homes in Poland in the areas east of the Oder/Neisse carrying on a similar campaign against Poland? Germans found a solution, so did all those displaced Jews. Why not the Palestinians???

  9. Eli Liran on Wed, Sep 9th 2009 3:47 PM
  10. I think people, all of those involve in any kind of debate, regarding the conflict over “palestine” should read and posses the following book;
    Aothor: Joan Peters
    Title; From Time Immemorial
    this book covers the entier Conflict issues, informs you about the facts, and documents involves

    best Regards
    Eli Liran

  11. Mickey Oberman on Wed, Sep 9th 2009 9:11 PM
  12. Hooray for boycotts.

    So far ticket sales for TIFF have exceeded all expectations. On line tickets are already sold out.

    When a boycott of Israeli wines went into effect just before last Pesach, Israeli wines were sold out within a couple of hours.

    More recently, there has been an attempt to boycott an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at The Royal Ontario Museum. It is drawing crowds.

    Could it be that those people trying to institute the boycotts are really Israeli spies sent to boost sales of Israeli products?

    Regardless, it is quite evident that Torontonians wont buy into the lies spread by those professional protesters.

  13. marcia lewis on Thu, Sep 10th 2009 1:24 AM
  14. Most Americans have never been very fonda Jane. she showed her pink side during the viet nam days. now years later she apologized. but the senile old biddy hasn’t learned when to keep her moth shut. she was and still is, a fool!!!

  15. David-Joe on Fri, Sep 11th 2009 5:05 AM
  16. The most pathetic is the INACTION by Israel

    It stands silent and say nothing or a quiet little voice named “Miri” or an idiot sounding voice named “Regev” is put in tv and in such neutral tones, timidity excuding from these people, they “defend” Israel’s position.

    It reminds me of Jews from the diaspora, that decided “if we say nothing, they will go away”.

    But along came the Israelis and instead of switching off the lights, closing the curtains and hiding behind locked doors – they went outside, faced the bullets and fired back and destroyed the enemy.

    It is time Israel decided to ACT like Israelis once again and not cower like someone in the diaspora living in a foreign land on sufferage.

    “Tuning out” the demands by a bullying American government [they always bully little guys but bend to China and Russia] over the “settlements” is a small start.

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