Ken Loach Vows ‘Every Penny’ His New Film Makes In Israel Will Go To Palestinians
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — British film director Ken Loach, a fierce advocate of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, said “every penny” earned from the screening in Israel of his latest film will go to Palestinian organizations.
In a letter to the editor of the London-based daily newspaper The Guardian, Loach, as well as producer Rebecca O’Brien and screenwriter Paul Laverty of the Sixteen Films production company, wrote that: “We fully support the aims of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as an expression of the grassroots call in Palestine for solidarity against the Israeli state’s breach of international law.”
The letter writers cited the call by BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti for a cultural boycott of Israel. “We have always respected this appeal and have encouraged other people working in the arts to do the same. We reject the allegation that any of us have exempted ourselves from the cultural boycott,” they wrote.
The letter published on Tuesday comes after an article published last week in The Guardian reported that his films have been widely shown in Israel, including his most recent, “I Daniel Blake.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
