More than 130 filmmakers and film artists are among a group of more than 230 people in the film industry who have signed a pledge to boycott TLVFest, an LGBT film festival in Israel, as a show of support with Palestinian members of the LGBTQ community, the latest move in a bitter row between Israel and international pro-Palestinian activists.
The 15th annual TLVFest, a Tel Aviv government-sponsored festival, is set to take place from June 4 to June 13.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Turner Prize-winning British artist Charlotte Prodger and French film director Alain Guiraudie are among those boycotting the LGBT Film Festival, which is funded by Israel's ministry of culture and opens on Wednesday.
The pledge, organized by Palestinian queer organizations and PACBI, the academic and cultural arm of the BDS movement, says that LGBTQ liberation "is intimately connected to the liberation of all oppressed peoples and communities," and signatories commit "not to submit films or otherwise participate in TLVFest or other events partially or fully sponsored by complicit Israeli institutions until Israel complies with international law and respects Palestinian human rights."
The signatories also claim that TLVFest, in partnership with the Israeli Culture Ministry, is being used as part of "pinkwashing efforts," using LGBTQ rights "to project a progressive image while denying the rights of all Palestinians, queer and non-queer alike.
"We stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice, and dignity."
Itai Pinkas, a Tel Aviv City Council member responsible for LGBTQ issues, said the boycott was misplaced.
"This is harming a purely cultural event that is really nothing to do with whatever wrong the state may be doing," Pinkas said.
"Israeli policy can be, and sometimes should be, criticized but I don't see how this is criticizing government policy."
Israel, the most liberal country in the Middle East for LGBTQ rights, is often hit by boycotts over its policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
While no finalists or broadcasters heeded a call to pull out of the Israeli-hosted 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, Iceland's entry and pop star Madonna both displayed Palestinian flags during their performances.
