Palestinian community urges boycott Of Doc Edge Film Festival
There have been urgent calls from the Palestinian community in New Zealand for filmmakers and the public to boycott the film festival until it refuses the support of the Israeli Embassy.
For several years now the Documentary Edge Film Festival has accepted sponsorship from the Israeli Embassy. This stance has put them at odds with Palestinian human rights organisations who argue that accepting funds from the Israeli government normalises a state with an appalling record of breaches of human rights and international law.
This year, in the wake of the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh, there have been even more urgent calls from the Palestinian community in New Zealand for filmmakers and the public to boycott the film festival until it refuses the support of the Israeli Embassy.
The Palestinians in New Zealand Co-ordinating Committee (PACC) asked organisers of Doc Edge 2022 to refuse the sponsorship deal only to have their request rejected. A spokesperson from PACC said.
"Doc Edge has the Israeli Embassy listed as a supporter at a time when Israel is unlawfully occupying Palestinian territory and subjugating Palestinians to a catalogue of human rights abuses."
"We support the call from PACC to boycott Doc Edge. With regret, we won't be attending any of their events,” said Neil Ballantyne, Co-Convenor of the human rights organisation Justice for Palestine.
The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have stated that “Israel has always used culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash or justify its regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid”. The BDS movement calls on all international festivals to show solidarity with the Palestinian people by rejecting any form of sponsorship from the Israeli government. Thousands of artists across the world now refuse to accept funds from Israel or perform in Israel, including a host of global superstars such as Lorde, Roger Waters from Pink Floyd, Lauryn Hill and Chuck D.
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