On June 29th Los Angeles activists staged a protest in front of the LA Film Festival to protest against the screening of an Israeli film. Calling for cultural boycott as a tool to end the Occupation and the ongoing crimes in Gaza and Palestine, demonstrators highlighted how the boycotts can be effective in solidarity with Palestinians struggling to achieve freedom and their rights.
ANSWER LA and Women in Black held a half-hour vigil at the Sunset Laemmle Theatres in Hollywood to raise awareness among the visitors of festival about the continuing Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people. They also used the opportunity to appeal to the Festival organizers to join the cultural boycott against Israel.
An Israeli film about the military, Close to Home, is being shown as part of the LA Film Festival. The Zionist filmmakers claim to stand for women rights. They aim to âquestion the relevancy of the military service to our own livesâ as the assignments at the checkpoints of the Israeli women soldiers disrupt âthe romantic crushes and their break-upsâ of the soldiers overseeing the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem.
The perversity of women rights âfor Jewish onlyâ so that females in the Occupation Forces might have the same rights as their male counterparts in the colonization, expulsion and oppression of Palestinians is evident. It is shocking to see the deep rooted racism in which Occupation Forces see the mere existence of Palestinians â indigenous to the land – as an annoying part of their lives that prevents them from enjoying the spoils of 60 years of occupation and expulsion.
The cultural boycott is a key element within the broader movement to Isolate Apartheid Israel. It is a means to uncover the rhetoric of âdemocracy for Jews onlyâ. It gives a clear message to Palestinians that the world does not buy into the Zionist propaganda but stands against it to expose the realities. It raises awareness across the globe and demonstrates to the Occupation and its friends in the international community that popular support against their crimes is growing.
The film is scheduled in a series of other upcoming festivals. The Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign calls upon activists from across the world to urge organizers to halt screenings of the film and to raise awareness amongst the audience of the real nature of Israeli Apartheid and Occupation.