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MPs urge Glasgow venue to cancel disputed Palestine arts festival
MPs and Jewish community representatives have called for a Glasgow arts event, From the Rivers to the Seas, to be cancelled, saying its title evokes a slogan many Jewish people hear as a call to eliminate Israel. The dispute raises questions about the use of public funding and whether the event’s wording makes Jewish residents feel unwelcome in the city’s cultural life.
The five-day Palestine-themed festival is due to take place next week at Tramway, a venue run by Glasgow Life. Its organiser, the not-for-profit group Arika, has received £911,950 through Creative Scotland’s three-year funding programme, which supports 262 cultural organisations. Creative Scotland said the funding supports organisations’ operations and creative programmes; Arika described the festival as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians amid what it called an ongoing genocide.
In short
- MPs and Jewish representatives want a Glasgow arts event cancelled.
- Arika has received £911,950 in Creative Scotland funding.
- Critics say the festival’s title echoes a threatening slogan.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The festival can be defended as a cultural platform for Palestinian voices and solidarity at a time of profound suffering, and its title may be intended to express liberation and equal rights rather than hostility towards Jewish people. Public arts funding supports an organisation’s wider work, so receiving a grant does not necessarily mean the funder endorses every event or phrase; cancelling the festival could also restrict lawful political expression and debate.
The case against
The festival’s title can reasonably be heard by many Jewish people as endorsing the removal of Israel, making them feel threatened or excluded from the city’s cultural life regardless of the organiser’s intent. A publicly supported venue should take that impact seriously and consider whether hosting the event, especially under this title, is consistent with its responsibility to serve Glasgow’s diverse communities.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Now call off ‘anti-Semitic’ arts show, MPs demand”.