Director pulls out of Jerusalem teaching trip in protest against
Israel’s proposed loyalty oath for new citizens, saying the
controversial policy was ‘the last straw'{josquote}”Eight weeks after our lunch, the Israeli attack on the flotilla took
place. As I watched the world very properly condemn this atrocity, I
almost cancelled. I now wish I had, and blame my cowardice for not
having done so.

“Since then, your government has gone from bad to worse. I need not
itemise all that has taken place … I still had not faced up to the
prospect of pulling out until a few weeks ago, but the resumption of the
illegal building on the West Bank made me start to consider it
seriously. And now we have the Loyalty Oath.

“This is the last straw – quite apart from the ongoing criminal blockade
of Gaza, not to mention the endless shooting of innocent people there,
including juveniles …”{/josquote}

Bafta-winning film-maker Mike Leigh has pulled out of a teaching trip to
Israel due to his concern over the country’s proposed loyalty oath
bill.

Leigh said he was not prepared to take part in the “great masters”
programme at the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem.
In a letter to school director Renen Schorr, he cited several of
Israel’s policies, including the oath, which would require non-Jews
seeking Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a “Jewish
and democratic state”.

“As you know, I have always had serious misgivings about coming, but I
allowed myself to be persuaded by your sincerity and your commitment,”
Leigh wrote. “And it is because of those special qualities of yours that
I am especially sorry to have to let you down. But I have absolutely no
choice. I cannot come, I do not want to come, and I am not coming.
 

“Eight weeks after our lunch, the Israeli attack on the flotilla took
place. As I watched the world very properly condemn this atrocity, I
almost cancelled. I now wish I had, and blame my cowardice for not
having done so.

“Since then, your government has gone from bad to worse. I need not
itemise all that has taken place … I still had not faced up to the
prospect of pulling out until a few weeks ago, but the resumption of the
illegal building on the West Bank made me start to consider it
seriously. And now we have the Loyalty Oath.

“This is the last straw – quite apart from the ongoing criminal blockade
of Gaza, not to mention the endless shooting of innocent people there,
including juveniles …”

Schorr responded with his own letter, in which he cited Sam Spiegel’s
record of working with Palestinian film-makers and said the school
should not be punished for the actions of the Israeli government.

“We agreed to convene a press conference where you had an open platform
to express your sharp objections to Israeli policy, should you have
desired,” he said. “The reverberation of the words you spoke here – from
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jenin – would have been heard so much
differently.

“Here, too, you were presented with the genuine opportunity to speak to
hearts and minds, and have a direct influence upon public awareness and
opinion. To touch the future. To try to change the realities. Yet now
you have chosen to stay distant.”

A number of film-makers and actors have chosen to boycott Israel film
festivals and other events in recent years over the country’s political
actions. In July it was reported that Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman had
pulled out of the Jerusalem film festival due to their concern over the
country’s attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine dead
earlier this year.