The headquarters of Israel's national lottery (known in Hebrew as Mifal HaPayis) in Tel Aviv were once again the setting for a demonstration on Sunday, as artists and filmmakers protested the lottery's decision to pull funding for the top prize at the prestigious Docaviv documentary film festival.
Last week, the lottery decided to stop funding the Docaviv prize following a month-long protest by bereaved families of victims of terrorism, who objected this year's prize being awarded to the film "Advocate," about attorney Lea Tsemel.
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Tsemel gained notoriety for her persistent defense of terrorists, including Abdel Aziz Salha, who took part in the 2000 lynching of two IDF reservists in Ramallah. Tsemel has also defended dozens of Hamas terrorists, as well as former Knesset minister Basel Ghattas, who was convicted of smuggling cell phones to jailed terrorists. Most recently, she represented the family of the terrorist who murdered and raped 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher in February.
The prize carries a cash value of 70,000 shekels ($20,000) as well as a grant of 150,000 shekels ($42,000) to be used to promote the film as a candidate for an Academy Award.
The protest waged by families of victims of terrorism persuaded thousands of Israelis to cancel their subscription tickets, and the lottery issued a statement saying that not only would it no longer fund the award for Docaviv prize winners, it would also "examine the issue of the current award [for "Advocate"] with legal counsel."
Sunday's protest included some 100 people holding up placards urging Mifal HaPayis to reconsider its decision.
Across the street, family members of victims of terrorism and activists on their behalf, who got the lottery to cancel the award, staged a counterprotest.
Some artists in Israel are worried that the decision is part of trend toward an arts funding policy that is less concerned with freedom of speech than with nationalist rhetoric.
"Documentaries are about challenging the reality, and making society look at uncomfortable subjects through films," filmmaker Tomer Heyman told the Jerusalem Post last week.
"If they withdraw their support for this film, there is no limit and no end to what the government will try to do to Israeli art."
Rafael Balulu, a filmmaker who participated in the protest against the lottery's decision, told i24NEWS, that political controversy around documentary films in Israel was nothing new. Balulu cited the controversy stirred up by the 2002 film "Jenin, Jenin."
"We understand the pain of the families," he says, explaining that people from both sides of the street managed to find space for discussion during the demonstration. "It is painful for them to see a film portraying the defender of their family's killer."
However, Balulu insists that as a filmmaker, he has a "right to tell a story" if it doesn't incite to violence or hatred. And he calls Lea Tsemel a "good story," one that touches on the most vulnerable point for Israeli society.
"In Israel, documentary filmmakers are at the vanguard of political debate," Rafael says, insisting that freedom of speech and political debate should be strictly safeguarded.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
