A number of prominent Canadian and world cultural figures last month condemned the Toronto International Film Festival for featuring films from Tel Aviv. Naomi Klein, in support of the condemnation, stated: “When I heard the Toronto International Film Festival was holding a celebratory “spotlight” on Tel Aviv I felt ashamed of my city of Toronto”.  She was joined by numerous other celebrities in condemning the film festival, stating in a letter:  “Looking at modern, sophisticated Tel Aviv without also considering the city’s past and the realities of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, would be like rhapsodizing about the beauty and elegant lifestyles in white-only Cape Town or Johannesburg during apartheid without acknowledging the corresponding black townships of Khayelitsha and Soweto.”

Anyone who challenged the authors of the letter and their supporters was labelled as a pro-Israeli and anti-Palestinian mouthpiece.  Not only did the authors blame the Film Festival for politicizing the event – an old trick to berate free expression when it doesn’t accord with your own view – they condemned anyone who supports any attempt to recognize cities with a vibrant cultural and artistic community if it involves an Israeli city.  Never mind the fact that Tel Aviv has many film makers highly critical of the government..  

The fallacy of this kind of knee-jerk criticism of anything to do with Israel is challenged in a letter in latest edition of the New York Review of Books by Vanessa Redgrave, Julian Schnabel and Martin Sherman, hardly persons to be labelled soft on Israel.  They say in part:

“The protesters use the term “apartheid regime.” We oppose the current Israeli government, but it is a government. Freely elected. Not a regime. Words matter.

In their letter the protesters say that “Tel Aviv is built on destroyed Palestinian villages.” True. Just as much of America is built on obliterated Indian property. Are they implying that Tel Aviv should not exist? At least not in its present form? Which would mean that the State of Israel (the original State of Israel, not including the occupied territories) should not exist. Thousands of Palestinians have died through the years because the Israeli government, military, and part of the population fervently believe that the Arab states and, indeed, much of the world do not want Israel to exist. How then are we halting this never-ending cycle of violence by promoting the very fears that cause it?

Many Israelis are aware of this history. Many citizens of Tel Aviv are particularly cognizant of the situation of the Palestinians and are concerned about their government’s policies and their country’s future. And none more so than the Tel Aviv creative community. This is exemplified by Israeli films that criticize their government’s behavior, and some startling Israeli theater pieces, such as the Cameri Theatre’s Plonter, seen earlier this year in London. The Israeli peace bloc, Gush Shalom, and many Israeli human rights groups and advocates are based in Tel Aviv. Some 10,000 Israeli citizens demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the military attack on Gaza in January this year, a fact not reported by the BBC World News or CNN.

These citizens of Tel Aviv and their organizations and their cultural outlets should be applauded and encouraged. Their presence and their continued activity is reason alone to celebrate their city. Cultural exchanges almost always involve government channels. This occurs in every country. There is no way around it. We do not agree that this involvement is a reason to shun or protest, picket or boycott, or ban people who are expressing thoughts and confronting grief that, ironically, many of the protesters share”.

I know of no better refutation of the attempt by Naomi Klein and others to unfairly discredit the Toronto Film Festival and Israeli film-makers.  They clearly have their own political reasons for doing what they did.  But there is no hope for engagement through culture and art, solidarity among artists, and open communication by well meaning people concerned about Israel and its problems if such attitudes prevail.