This week marked the most recent episode of anti-Israeli discrimination in the European art world. Nadav Lapid, an Israeli director who lives in France and is famous for his searing commentary on the current Israeli government, was forced to withdraw from the jury of the FID Festival in Marseille after other directors threatened to pull their films if he participated. An event planned around one of his films was also canceled. 

One filmmaker told Le Monde why he threatened to withdraw his film. “I know that Nadav Lapid is critical of his country,” he said. “But that’s no longer enough for me. There’s too much blood today. Too many deaths. And there’s really no room left for nuance, because that nuance has been crushed by the situation itself.”

Another director added, somewhat paradoxically, “We’re not condemning a human being: We are refusing a cultural and political model… It’s not because Nadav Lapid is Israeli. But now, I can no longer listen to the idea that people are ‘fighting from within.’ What does that even mean anymore? Saying you’re against genocide is fine, but for me, it’s not enough.”

Lapid described the frustration of being boycotted not for his views, but for his national origin. “I asked myself: ‘What do they want exactly? That I stop making films? That I leave France? How far will this go?'”

He said, “I prefer to give credit to these people and not say that this is antisemitism, but it is certainly a crazy and superficial fanaticism… accompanied by violence and self-righteousness,” he told Haaretz. According to him, the boycott is a manifestation of a “feeling of frustration and helplessness” over the policies of the Israeli government toward Palestinians. Since there are no significant arms or economic sanctions on the Netanyahu coalition, said Lapid, cultural and educational institutions abroad impose their own sanctions to feel as though they are doing something to help Palestinians by making Israelis feel unwelcome. 

This is, of course, deeply unhelpful, and even ironic: the French festival’s boycott caused elation in the government that Lapid vehemently opposes, and which opposes him. Culture Minister Amichai Chikli........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)