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Jewish director disowns film festival award

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Published Date: 31 May 2009
By Jeremy Watson
AN AWARD-WINNING Jewish director has asked for his name to be stripped from the records of the Edinburgh International Film Festival after organisers rejected a travel grant for an Israeli film-maker.
Manchester-born Gary Sinyor, who won the EIFF's prestigious Charlie Chaplin award for Leon The Pig Farmer in 1992, has accused the festival of "caving in" to the views of director Ken Loach.

Sinyor says the festival should not be seen to give in
to "extremists" and says he is so upset that he would cut the metal award in half and send it back if he could.

The spat began when the EIFF initially accepted £300 from the Israeli embassy to help fund the travel of Israeli film-maker Tali Shalom-Ezer. She was due to visit Scotland to attend the premiere of her short film, Surrogate.

But the decision drew criticism from a Palestinian campaign group, Socialist Unity, which threatened to boycott the festival unless the money was returned. Then Loach, the internationally-acclaimed director of The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Ae Fond Kiss, said he would support the boycott.

Subsequently, the EIFF made clear that it would not accept the £300.

Sinyor said he had tried to "make sense" of the about-turn but could only "assume that Ken Loach exerted sufficient pressure on the festival that one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world actually caved in.

"It's a shame that Ken feels particularly strongly about not having anything to do with Israel or Israeli money because clearly Israelis obviously like Ken."

Both of his two recent hit films had been distributed in Israel. "Is he happy to take the money or does the thought that it may have paid for a tank or bullet keep him awake? When a two-state solution comes, will Ken rejoice, or will he stamp his feet in frustration?"

Sinyor added that Israel should not be equated solely with a "terrorist entity, rather than a country" with many different shades of public opinion.

Loach was reported yesterday as saying: "I don't respond to personal attacks. I would urge Gary Sinyor and others to look at the facts of the boycott."

An open letter to Shalom-Ezer said: "To be crystal clear, as a film-maker you will be welcome in Edinburgh. The opposition was to the film festival's taking money from the Israeli state."

Iain Smith, the chairman of EIFF, said a review had been launched. "I apologise sincerely for the distress," he added. "Clearly we didn't appreciate enough that our festival cannot keep itself entirely detached from serious geopolitical issues."





Page 1 of 1

 
1

Fifi la Bonbon,

31/05/2009 00:46:31
"But the decision drew criticism from a Palestinian campaign group, Socialist Unity, which threatened to boycott the festival unless the money was returned. Then Loach, the internationally-acclaimed director of The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Ae Fond Kiss, said he would support the boycott."


That's not exactly correct. The EIFF caved in because the Palestine Solidarity Committee, led by a man presently out on bail and awaiting trial for racially aggravated charges, made threats to repeat the violence that led to him and his colleagues being arrested last year. This was rather more than a "boycott."

The Palestine Solidarity Committee is not a nice liberal pressure group. They regularly try to persuade schools and local authorities not to get involved in Holocaust Memorial Day activities - last time I looked they had proudly posted their correspondence on their website.

Mr Loach then threatened to boycott the festival - although of course he made no such threats to boycott the Cannes film festival, where he's not thought of as such big noise. Mr Loach notoriously declared recently that he believed that a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe since the Gaza crisis was not surprising and that he understood it.

They always pick on Jews.
2

Arminius,

Bei Uelzen 31/05/2009 00:52:55
Pity that the (very) Jewish director Sinyor cannot see that the festival should not accept money from "extremists" such as those that now run the state of Israel.
I am fairly certain that Tali Shalom-Ezer will be able to afford the trip to the festival using alternative funds (maybe Red Ken will chip in).
3

CRAGman,

31/05/2009 01:13:32
I've got some time for Ken Loach's films - but he's dead wrong on this and in danger of becoming dictatorial and almost racist. Boycotts of Jewish businesses have a long and very sad history, Ken.
4

Arminius,

Bei Uelzen 31/05/2009 01:45:08
#3 CRAGman - How is this a boycott of a "Jewish business"? It is the The opposition to a film festival taking money from the Israeli state, a state which has an extremist govenment with a racist as deputy prime minister and foreign minister (Avigdor Lieberman).
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,615392,00.html
5

,

31/05/2009 03:29:13
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
6

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:31:58
Fact#1:
When Mr Salmond and his sidekick Kenny MacAskill were making contact with Sinn Fein, in the early eighties, the IRA were already training with Palestinian terrorists groups in Lebanon.

7

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:34:32
Fact2:
It was George Galloway, left wing catholic, who said, "Hezbollah is not a terrorist organistion".

This didn't put Ken Loach off Mr Galloway's Respect Party.

Our George is also a protest friend of Mr Alex Salmond.
8

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:36:14
Fact #3
Ken Loach didn't say anything when Hamas threatened to kill jewish children all over the world as they are now considered a "legitimate" target.
9

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 03:38:06
''The Palestinian intifada is a war of national liberation. We Israelis enthusiastically chose to become a colonialist society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for al these activities....we established an apartheid regine''.

Michael Ben-Yair, Israeli Attorney General 1993-6.

#1 Fifi your comment is very ignorant and stupid. You mistake Zionist for Jew. Don't - the two things are not the same.
10

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:38:11
Considering the SNP speak up on behalf of tropical fish how are we to interpret Mr Salmond's silence on Ken Loach, the Englishman, dictating policy at a Scottish film festival?
11

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:40:13
If Salmond feels that the majority of Scots support the Palestinians I challenge him to make it part of his manifesto for the up coming General Election.

GONE ON SALMOND - I DARE YOU.
12

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:43:38
In my opinion, the problem here is not Ken Loach but the SNP supporters who will support him using weasel arguements about 'freedom of speech'.

The SNP give more importance to the views of an Englishman than to those Scots like myslef who support Israel.

The irony.
13

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 03:44:03
W Mith you are a lunatic, by any measurable standard the State of Israel has got a case to answer. My God are supposed to just ignore the recent carnage in Gaza ? Are you mad ? Or are you just one of these despicable people who values an Arab life as less than a Western one.
14

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:45:27
BTW
I have to split up my comments so as to make it more difficult for the SNP supporters to get my comments deleted.

The SNP can't stand 'quislings'.
15

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:48:02
Mr Salmonds friendship with the anti-Israeli marxists he has been hanging out with at the Stop The War Coalition rallies is now being brought out into the open.

ABOUT TIME.
16

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:49:12
#13 Observer

As an SNP supporter your views have been noted.
17

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:51:00
When Israel played Scotland at football in Glasgow a few years ago I didn't see tens of thousands of Scots demonstrating.

Can Nicola Sturgeon explain this?
18

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 03:51:30
16 As a representative of the lunatic right your views have been noted as well. And laughed at - as usual.

19

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:55:39
Around 20,000 Sri Lankan (tamils) civilians have been killed recently.

Thats alot more than the 6,000 Palestinians killed in the last 8 years in the conflict with Israel.

So Nicola Sturgeon, Sandra White and others will be demonstrating on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh over the massacre of Tamils civilians then, eh?
20

W Smith,

Middle East 31/05/2009 03:56:23
Some of us are on to you Mr Salmond.
21

,

31/05/2009 04:00:16
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
22

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 04:07:49
20 Let's get it right. The hell that was unleashed on Gaza was justified by so called rocket attacks in Israel who's mortality was outstripped by traffic accidents in Israel to the power of ten. They didn't unleash hell on motor cars, they unleashed it on the Gazans.

Israel has a case to answer. In the face of international resistance to holding them to account, people like Ken Loach are showing moral authority. More bloody power to his elbow - and he makes a good film too.

23

Thomas Aikenhead,

Edinburgh 31/05/2009 05:27:31
UN ambassador Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated by the Stern Gang in 1948 in Israel while he attempted to craft a peace deal in the run up to the declaration of the state of Israel. Was that an act of terrorism?

Possibly, but that debate should be held elsewhere, just as the involvement of the children of Annie Lennox, what George Galloway thinks about Lebanese politics and the friends of Alex Salmon are equally irrelevant.

The central issue is whether the EIFF can decide who, and on what grounds, they invite or allow to attend the film festival when a film is being shown.

This superb festival must preserve its artistic integrity and independence by reusing to accept government funding from foreign states. Scotland is a wealthy country with tradition of philanthropy and can well afford to assist attendees who films have been selected for showing in genuine hardship cases.

That, and only that issue, the genuine independence of the EIFF, is the only topic for discussion.



24

Stan Butler,

31/05/2009 07:45:48


'A Nazi soldier shot [my grandmother] in bed

My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

The current Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt among gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians.

On Sky News a few days ago, the spokeswoman for the Israeli army, Major Leibovich, was asked about the Israeli killing of, at that time, 800 Palestinians. The total is now 1,000.

She replied instantly that '500 of them were militants'. That was the reply of a Nazi. I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants.'


Gerald Kaufman MP.

25

Dave Scott,

Broughty Ferry 31/05/2009 08:14:20
"#1 Fifi your comment is very ignorant and stupid. You mistake Zionist for Jew. Don't - the two things are not the same."

#9 Observer your comment is very ignorant and stupid. You mistake Jew for Zionist. Don't - the two things are not the same.

Anti-Zionism, at large, does NOT discern carefully. It IS the modern vehicle for antisemitism (as defined by UN).
26

Mikey,

31/05/2009 08:35:36
Is Israel an apartheid state? Do they allow citizenship to anyone who is not a Jew?

If I married a Jewish woman, would I be able to obtain citizenship without embracing Judaism?

Are all Israeli citizens treated equally?

Is Israel a humanitarian state?

How does Israel differ from Iran?

Can anyone answer these questions?
27

urchin,

31/05/2009 09:10:31
It is the right of the EIFF, to select whom they wish to exhibit their work.What is the content of this film, is it pro Zionist, is it about ordinary Israel citezens is it anti Palistine.

Unfortuanatly the Gaza situation is robustly debated on both sides and tempers flair,however the EIFF,is an autonimous orginisation and i reiterate has the right to select whom they wish to exhibit. It is unfortunate that they have been caught up in the politics of Gaza.
28

urchin,

31/05/2009 09:41:05
27-It used to be that if you believed in the bibical area Zion (JERUASALEM)you would be accepted by the Zionist and considered Zionist.

There are christians muslims and of course jewish people all Israeli citizens.

Aparthied,if that where to exist it would come from the serious division that there is in the present Zionist movement.

Inter religious marraige always a curve ball not matter your calling.Although i would dare to say and no doubt im going to get some flak for this,it would be rather uncomfortable in a Zionist state.
29

DN,

UK 31/05/2009 10:00:35
Just to answer the questions posted earlier correctly...

Do they allow citizenship to anyone who is not a Jew?
Anyone can apply for citizenship - the immigration laws are much more liberal than the UK and immigrants of many religions are welcomed each year including many thousands of Darfuri Muslims who having escaped Darfur to Egypt are trying to escape persecution in Egypt and cross to Israel.

If I married a Jewish woman, would I be able to obtain citizenship without embracing Judaism?
Yes 100% this is part of the law of return - sadly there is no civil marriage in Israel for anyone but if you were married here to a Jew and she moved to Israel it applies to her family by law.

Are all Israeli citizens treated equally?
In the same way that UK citizens are. The law protects them but sadly there is still much racism and discrimination. Ask the same question to the UK black police association about this country. We all have a long way to go.

Is Israel a humanitarian state?
They donate humanitarian aid and expertise worldwide regardless or religion. They are the largest suppliers of humanitarian aid to Palestinians including Israel organisations like physicians for human rights. They take in a massive number of asylum seekers from Africa and worldwide. They are not perfect.

How does Israel differ from Iran?
They are both great cultural nations but in Israel the voting system allows for anyone to stand not just those approved by ayatollahs. In Israel there is some religious coercion but it affects services offered rather than individual freedoms.

30

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 10:57:26
25 Dave Scott - I didn't make a comment @ 9. I quoted the former Israeli Attorney General - are you calling him stupid ?

Anti-zionism does not mean anti-semitism (BTW the Arabs are semitic too).

That is a myth. You should be able to oppose the state of Israel and it's actions without being called a Jew-hater. If your only argument is we are Jew-haters then you don't have an argument.
31

El Franko,

Dagenham 31/05/2009 11:08:58
#34, your #21 says 'A socialist. A decent man.'

Just to let you know that really jars with me. Hitler was a socialist, so was Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Castro and no end of dictators ever since such as the Burmese junta. The record of socialism in action stinks to high heaven, yet you seem to think it is automatically a good thing!

Re the EIFF. Their leadership has behaved in a shoddy way. If I were an Arab with freedom to choose where to live, Israel would be high on my list - not only for economic opportunities, but primarily for religious, political and cultural freedoms on a scale unimaginable anywhere else in the Middle East.

32

Yane,

31/05/2009 11:13:03
Why have they made Tali Shalom Ezer the meat in the sandwich? From the web it seems her films have nothing to do with the State of Israel & she doesn't support the behaviour of her government. Maybe the film mob should have had a whip around - we're only talking 300 quid here - & sent her the money equal to the government grant. To show their good faith.
33

El Franko,

31/05/2009 11:33:32
I have a visitor here just now who asked 'how can you say that Hitler was a socialist?'. The answer is a long one since there is so much evidence. Here is a good shot at it by J J Ray: http://ray-dox.blogspot.com/2006/08/this-article-is-published-on-internet.html

34

Lobeydoser,

31/05/2009 11:35:13
"It is, of course, crowded and poor but it is better off than nearly all of Africa as well as parts of Asia. There is no acute malnutrition, and infant mortality rates compare with those in Egypt and Jordan, according to Mahmoud Daher of the World Health Organization, who is in Gaza.

This is because although Israel and Egypt have shut the borders for the past three years in an effort to squeeze Hamas, Israel rations aid daily, allowing in about 100 trucks of food and medicine". - Scotland on Sunday.
35

Observer,,

Glasgow 31/05/2009 12:01:23
35 Your last sentence proves the ignorance your opening sentences indicate.
36

yockel,

31/05/2009 12:02:11
Yawn.
37

Media at One,

31/05/2009 12:51:17
I say we leave Israel and Palestine to themselves and let them carry on with their disgusting brand of politics, war and terror.
Both are a disgrace!
38

Billy Boy,

Sherman Oaks Californiacation 31/05/2009 18:10:55
What needs to be said, Israel was created by the British in an effort to appease a people who had gained a notorious reputation as complainers. The original settlers agreement was broken by them within the first few months and they have continued to ignore the voices of reason for the past sixty or so years! The country and its zionist philosophy are disgusting and are likely to be the cause of world upheaval unless they are forced to return to the Palestinians some of their land! Am I anti-semetic? I have many Jewish friends but I am Anti Israel! Who knows, it depends on how extreme your views are.
39

Brodric,

31/05/2009 20:38:49
24 Stan Butler

Your thread is spot on and so relevant - the best one made in this forum. Somebody needs to speak out but in the right way - and this is the way to say it. I can't add anything.

Thank you for that.
40

im brian and so is my wife,

edinburgh 31/05/2009 21:12:09
what this boils down to is,a persecuted race,have now turned into the persecuters
did no one learn from ,what nazi germany did ,with its gas chambers etc
seems no lessons were learned as one side kills the other,and vice versa
human beings ,no matter what religion are being killed just to score a point or take a wee bit ground
if NK lets fly a nuke ,there wont be any lands to fight over,as we will all be fried
41

DN,

UK 01/06/2009 00:26:06
Belated reply to "Cutty Sark"

Your point #1. The original post asked if non-Jews could get citizenship - the answer is definitely a yes as in any country. The entry into Israel law is a separate issue related to politics - sadly Israel and Palestine is an issue that needs to be resolved by negotiations and Israel does not allow Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to apply for citizenship in the same way though it is possible but rare. This is all to do with a perceived demographic threat. Many Palestinians would prefer to live in Israel as they have more freedom there but sadly this law prevents it happening as Israel is worried about a flood of immigrants changing the nature of the state (much as the UK didn't want to let in the Ghurkas and put quotas on Romanian migrants)

Your point #4. Would you use the term humanitarian to describe the current siege of Gaza and the use of white phosphorus during the recent hostilities?
Israel provides humanitarian aid, electricity, fuel etc but the situation is tough and Israel and Egypt must look for better ways to open secure borders. I do believe the main blame falls on Hamas, when aid does come through they try and horde it and give it to their cronies. Use of white phosphorous is yet to be proven categorically by unbiased sources, the Israeli army still deny it and time will uncover the truth.

Your point #5. Yes it does indeed affect services offered such as education for Arab children. Would you agree or disagree that Arab Israelis are often denied their basic fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the freedom of movement and the right to peaceful assembly?
Arab Israeli's have complete freedom of movement though like black and asians in Britain are more likely to get stopped and searched by police and at travel hubs. They have right to assembly but as with contentious Jewish groups it is sometimes not given if there is a worry it will incite violence, this is bad but fortunately there are many Israeli gro
42

redcliffe62,

01/06/2009 00:55:42
i disagree vehemently with the israel government and its actions. but to stop a film maker getting funding to come to edinburgh because they got some financial help from their own country i find unacceptable.
i see the argument that it implies tenuous support of the israeli government, but we are all getting too hoity toity and pc about things like this.
i also think the bnp guy should have gone to buck house, so my position is consistent.
there will always be money for people to travel and people invited to events, but because they are there does not mean they are endorsed by everybody there.
loach was wrong on this one.
and pressure groups that stop freedom of expression do a lot more harm than good.
in saying that, the millions thrown at u.s. senators by jewish lobby groups on behalf of the israeli government shows that the israeli government is not averse to spending money to get its point across.
43

Tam the Bam,

Neverland 01/06/2009 03:01:29
I'm sure there are a few on here that would have been happy defending aparteid in South Africa. The Israelis have the Palestinians in a large open air prison, have been stealing their land for years, and recently waded in killing hundreds of innocent women and children.
If Ken Loach is a crazy left wing a@@ hole for saying something against this bunch of butchers, what are you for supporting them?
44

322,

Edinburgh 01/06/2009 14:54:33
"la nouvelle judéophobie"

Let us not fool ourselves and dress this up as a act of attaining a moral high ground, this is pure and simple Judophobia.

The extreme left have made common cause with like-minded dictatorial entities, the destruction of Israel and to bring about their dream of World totalitarianism.
45

DN,

UK 01/06/2009 17:20:02
Cutty Sark


1. I stand by my assertion that many Palestinians would rather live in Israel - there are opinion polls to say so, they crave for freedom and democracy that their government doesn't give. UK quotas are officially economic but lets be realistic much of the debate is led by xenophobia. Officially it's different but is it really that different? Israelis are justifiably scared of their country being destroyed from the inside and it is all down to peace negotiations, in the UK we have no such excuse.

2. Who is to blame for failure of peace negotiations? It's all swings and roundabouts and you can't seriously believe it's all down to one decision a few years ago - both sides have messed up on many occasions.

3.
The IDF has admitted using white phosphorus.

Yes they have but they say it was used legally and ethically - read here
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710758789&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
As I said originally time will tell the truth

3. All Israelis do not have freedom of movement in Gaza and the West Bank including Jews. I think you're confusing Arabs with Israeli citizenship and those without.
Restrictions to entering the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are to stop riots. They apply equally to Jews, in fact Jews for over 2 years at the height of troubles were not allowed on the Temple Mount only Muslims - racist?
Yes border controls are not great - my last post was cut off, but it's similar here and worse in the US.
46

DN,

UK 02/06/2009 18:24:15
1. A couple of links I dug up in 2 minutes - sure there are more similar
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/995466.html
http://tinyurl.com/p58ty8
2. My position isn't shifting! I only commented to correct your original accusations. The blame depends on how far you go back as to who you blame. Right now peacemakers and academics have answers to all the problems in a 2 state solution. Israelis have been rewarded with violence for every move for peace they have made, Palestinians have years of resentment pent up and are equally untrusting. I believe rather than accusing and blaming it is much better to support both grassroots Israeli and Palestinian peace, human rights and democracy groups.
3. The report says they used white phosphorous in unpopulated areas only as do USA and UK - identical weapons to those NATO use.
4.1 - the Mufti of Jerusalem has sovereignty over temple mount so it's them along with Israeli police.
4.2 - In USA I've been fingerprinted and photographed (not so in Israel), my friend gets held for 2 hours each time, in UK no probs as I've an EU passport.

Haven't got time to answer every question but ideally anyone should be allowed to live anywhere, why should Palestinians be allowed to build and not Jewss and vice versa but in reality settlements will be removed and refugees won't return. We all know the answers it's just how to get there!
47

SteveUSA,

USA 23/08/2009 01:33:04
Spineless leftie wimps, the same kinds celebrating the release of a terrorist loves to bash Israel. I'm a leftie lib! Viva Lenin! LIBBIE POWER!

 

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