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Jerusalem Film Festival Founder Urges Palestinian Filmmakers to Take Part: ‘The Cinemas Are Filled With Diverse Crowds — Jews and Arabs, Secular and Religious Citizens’
Roni Mahadav-Levin, executive director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Jerusalem Film Festival, has published an open letter urging Palestinian filmmakers to take part in next year's edition of the festival. He argued that boycotts of Israeli cultural institutions do not punish hardliners but empower them, and that withdrawing art from Israeli audiences effectively does the work of censors, since both aim to silence discourse and keep communities divided.
The 43rd Jerusalem Film Festival ran from 9 to 19 July, opening with Moshe Rosenthal's "Tell Me Everything" and hosting more than 30 international guests despite calls for a wider boycott of Israeli-linked film institutions. Several Palestinian and Arab-Israeli filmmakers took part this year, including actor Ehab Elias Salami, who won the festival's best acting award for his role in Assaf Machnes's "Where To?", while a curated programme of six Palestinian short films, "All That Remains," was also screened. Mahadav-Levin described Jerusalem's cinema audiences as diverse and unified by shared storytelling, and said he hopes more Palestinian artists will submit work for next year's festival.
In short
- Jerusalem Film Festival boss urges Palestinian filmmakers to participate next year
- Argues boycotts empower hardliners rather than challenging them
- Palestinian actor Ehab Elias Salami won best acting award this year
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Cultural institutions can serve as spaces where divided communities encounter each other's stories, fostering understanding that political discourse alone cannot achieve. Boycotts enforce silence rather than enable dialogue and ultimately harm the artists and audiences who might benefit most from such exchange.
The case against
Israeli cultural institutions receive state funding and support, so Palestinian participation could be interpreted as legitimising policies and practices that Palestinians oppose, including settlement expansion and military occupation. Boycotts represent a form of nonviolent resistance allowing Palestinians to maintain autonomy and pressure for change without endorsing the status quo.
Explained simply
The Jerusalem Film Festival is Israel's largest annual film event, held in Jerusalem. It draws audiences from diverse backgrounds, including Palestinians, Arab-Israelis, and Israeli Jews, as well as international visitors.
There is ongoing international debate about whether to boycott Israeli cultural institutions as a form of protest against government policies. The debate centres on whether boycotts help or harm prospects for dialogue between communities, with differing views on whether cultural exchange can remain separate from politics.
Palestinian and Arab-Israeli filmmakers have participated in recent editions of the festival, including through a curated programme of Palestinian short films shown at this year's event. This participation reflects the festival's role as a space where artists and audiences from different communities engage with one another's work.
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