On pariahs and culture – Itamar Katzir and Ofir Hovav in Haaretz:

‘"After the premiere, the international sales agency that was promoting the film told me that they weren't able to book if for any more festivals, not even Jewish and Israeli ones, many of which had in fact been canceled," Fischer, of the Israeli-Australian Green Productions company, relates.

Amid all this one case, stood out: An important Jewish film festival, which Fischer prefers not to name, canceled its scheduled screening of "A Room of His Own." The reason: The movie mentions the Israel Defense Forces.

Fischer: "The film is about an 18-year-old in his senior year of high school who wants to go on a trip to Poland and is apprehensive about his upcoming army service. There is no 'army' in the movie; there is one scene of his interview during the psychotechnical [screening] test that deals with the guy's fear of the draft. But the sales agent received an email from that festival stating that from their point of view, that was a reference to the army and they were very concerned about politicization, so they were canceling us. And it's one of the most significant Jewish film festivals in the world."
That's not the only story of plummeting Israeli participation in art and cultural events abroad since the war erupted. A number of screenings and performances have been canceled or reduced, but in addition, in some cases, the Israelis themselves, fearing for their personal safety abroad, have opted out of participating. Likewise, foreign artists do not seem to be in any hurry to accept invitations to appear in Israel in the near future.’

(…)

‘srael is becoming isolated and outcast in the world cultural community, and some observers are even saying that it is reprising what happened not long ago in the same realm to a certain other country, namely, Russia.
Indeed, such a comparison may seem self-evident. For many Israelis, however, the differences are crystal clear: Russia, they say, launched a cynical, particularly cruel war on Ukraine, whereas we fell victim to a murderous assault by Hamas terrorists and had no other option but to respond. Israel was forced to embark on a war of survival against an enemy that was holding 240 hostages, killed some 1,200 people on October 7, and has been using the inhabitants of Gaza as a human shield. But many in the West see things without nuances: There is one side that attacked and another side that was attacked – one purely evil side and one good side – and Israel is on the wrong side.’

(…)

‘Examples of the cultural isolation of Israel continue nonstop and are especially glaring in the cinema and television industries. At one point in last month's International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, said to be the most important event of its kind in Europe, pro-Palestinian activists leaped onto the stage holding a banner that read, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," to the applause of the festival's artistic director (who later apologized). The Stockholm International Film Festival reportedly disinvited Aleeza Chanowitz, the American-Israeli creator of the TV series "Chanshi," from being an in-person guest at the event, held in mid-November, because it "had to take a stand." Afterward, however, its program director denied she had been disinvited her and apologized, saying that there had been a "misunderstanding" about the travel arrangements and that they had suggested that Chanowitz should pay for her own flight. She refused.’

(…)

‘After Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine, in February 2022, a global boycott movement against all things Russian gained rapid momentum. Western states imposed economic and political sanctions on the invading country; leading Western advertising firms stopped their campaigns in Russia; a boycott of Russian athletes was broadened; and anti-Russian demonstrations were held in the United States and Europe. Finally, the world of culture also suffered. Calls to boycott Russian artists and performers who supported the regime came from around the world – and even in Israel there were highly publicized cancellations. The most recent was in August, when performances by Moscow's Lenkom Theater, whose actors and management back Russia's war against Ukraine, were canceled by the host theater, Habima, in Tel Aviv.
The problem is that it's not only Putin's supporters who are being boycotted. Almost anything with Russian content is being marked with an asterisk until it's demonstratively shown itself to be anti-regime. And even that doesn't necessarily do the trick. For instance, Russian writer and satirist Viktor Shenderovich, who was interviewed by Liza Rozovsky in Haaretz, is living in exile in Poland because he's a vocal opponent of the regime – but Ukrainian activists are also calling for him to be boycotted, because he ostensibly identified with Russian soldiers and with patriotic sentiments.’

(…)

‘There are also digital petitions and open letters, like that appearing on the website of the Artforum monthly magazine and circulated on other sites worldwide, along them e-flux, Hyperallergic and The Art Newspaper. "An Open Letter From the Art Community to Cultural Organizations" – published in Artforum (in the form of a petition) 12 days after the war in Gaza broke out and expressing support for the Palestinians without mentioning the Hamas massacre – was signed by, among others, photographer Nan Goldin, feminist scholar Judith Butler, artists Peter Doig and Kara Walker, and also by Israelis living abroad, among them author and curator Ariella Azoulay and architect Eyal Weizman.

Shortly after the letter's publication, the editor of Artforum, David Velasco, was fired; the publishers, Danielle McConnell and Kate Koza, declared that the text was shared "without our, or the requisite senior members of the editorial team's, prior knowledge," and did not meet the magazine's standards. At the same time, some of the signatories requested that their names be removed from the list.

The scars of the war have also been evident with respect to the Documenta contemporary art show, one of the most important art events in the world, held every five years in Kassel, Germany. Even though the next Documenta is scheduled for 2027, preparations have already begun – but all six members of the team charged with selecting its artistic director have resigned, for different reasons related to the Israel-Hamas war, in recent weeks. First to leave was Tel Aviv-based artist Bracha Ettinger, who cited the Documenta staff's insensitivity toward the situation she found herself in because of the war – for example, by insisting she participate in Zoom meetings during attacks on Israel. She was followed by curator and critic Ranjt Hoskote, who came under fire for signing a BDS petition in 2019 and was criticized for being antisemitic, but said his sympathy for the Palestinian cause was now being misrepresented as support for Hamas. He added that he was worried that in "such a toxic atmosphere," Documenta's "historic openness to a diversity of positions" would be jeopardized. Then the other four committee members left.
Alana Kushnir, a legal expert in the field of art and a curator, shared Ettinger's feelings and made a similar decision. Until recently, Kushnir, who is Jewish and works with galleries and museums in Australia, was a member of the board of directors of the Australian Center for Contemporary Art. But after October 7 her world was severely jolted.’

(…)

‘This problematic climate, which seems to be seeping into all fields of culture now, could cause collateral damage: Artists and performers in Israel, or those who wish to continue doing business with Israel, may "cancel" themselves instead of waiting for others to do it. Here, too, there is a Russia-related precedent. "The Snow Forest," a novel by the American writer Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat, Pray, Love"), whose plot is set in mid-20th century Siberia, was due to come out in 2024, but furious online pro-Ukrainian reactions induced her to delay its publication. "It is not the time for this book to be published," she stated, and triggered a debate over the boundaries of freedom of expression.
Indeed, many Israeli film producers are already apprehensive about sending entries to official competitions, in the knowledge that many of the decision-makers at the major festivals of Europe aren't considered to be sympathetic to Israel.
"In my circle of young producers, the question has arisen of whether it's even worth sending films to European festivals at this time," says the producer Harel Ben Melech from Tiarafilms. "The first in a series of major events is the Berlin Festival [in February], and it costs a lot of money to submit an entry, so it's not clear whether there's any point. It's not a new thing that Zionist films don't really succeed, rather pro-Palestinian films that come from within [Israel]."
However, producer Katriel Schory, a former head of the Israel Film Fund and now a juror at a number of international competitions – including the Tallinn Festival – is urging filmmakers not to be deterred. "What are you talking about? You have to send in an entry," he says. "At worst you'll get a negative reply."’

(…)

‘"The massacre [on October 7], and the possible sin of Israel sacrificing the hostages will give rise among us to hatred and guilt feelings that will shape society for decades and generate endless violence," Leshem, the screenwriter, predicts. "In the face of that, a culture that is free is more critical than ever – to process, to vent feelings, to illuminate, to give hope. The problem is that Israel's governments have been working for years to put culture to death, in contrast to every Western society, where it has establishment support. If at the same time the path to [foreign] co-productions is also blocked, all we'll see on the screen is propaganda and infantile entertainment."
In such a reality, we really will turn into something like Putin's Russia – not only in the eyes of the world, but in terms of our own attitudes toward ourselves. And that, above all, must never be allowed to happen.’

Read the article here.

Not too long I was having lunch in an Upper East Side restaurant. Two elderly gentleman, upper middle class (what else can you expect in such a place?) were talking. One said: ‘Israel clearly got canceled.’ Which is, as this article also underlines, partly true.
Earlier this year an event in Amsterdam about classical Russian literature got ‘postponed’ – because of the war in Ukraine. An unwise decision, even though Putin uses, as a Ukrainian author told me, Pushkin as propaganda.

It’s clear that the current Israeli government is not interested in art, this is some ting they have in common with some of the extreme-right in Europe, for example the party of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands.

When this war is over, whether it’s before Christmas or before Valentine’s Day, at some point this war will be over, the activists in the West will move to different causes, different victims to align with.

Cultural boycotts based on citizenship are rarely wise and helpful. I don’t think that change took place in South-Africa because of cultural boycotts.

Also, I’m not in favor of cancelling artists because of statements in the past that could be perceived as not so pleasant. (I’m in favor of BDS, et cetera.)

The desire to punish, and cancellation is punishment, should be perceived as the sadistic reflex that it is, a reflex that won’t bring justice or peace to the people wo are used as an excuse for this old desire to punish.

Too much activism just creates imaginary communities for people who are in urgent need of imaginary comrades in the fight against not so imaginary loneliness.

And the cowardice of the institutions and their employees should not be forgotten. But cowardice is very human.