An Israeli civil rights organization petitioned the High Court of Justice this morning to nullify changes Culture Minister Miri Regev made to government funding criteria for music, theater and dance. The Culture Ministry claims the changes are in accordance with the Israeli boycott law. The so-called "Regev changes" penalize producers, artists and actors who boycott Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, while awarding those who perform there. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the court, claiming these changes limit freedoms of expression and conscience. The petition says the changes reward less developed, periphery towns, but discriminate between those outside and inside the Green Line. According to the criteria, a cultural institution that performs shows in the Negev and the Galilee will receive monetary support, but if it performs in Judea and Samaria, it will receive additional support. As the budget is decided ahead of time, one institute necessarily receives more at the expense of another, claims ACRI. According to ACRI, every cultural institution must report whether or not it refrains from performing in Judea and Samaria in government registration forms. There is no room to explain the reason or whether the decision to abstain may be unrelated to a political stance, the organization claims. Attorney Dan Yakir, legal advisor to ACRI, said the new funding criteria is not in accordance with the law. "The boycott law sanctions only on those who call to boycott or commit to participate in the boycott." According to Yakir, "The High Court of Justice explicitly ruled that the law does not apply to a theater company that abstains from performing in settlements. The abstention itself does not break the boycott law, rather the call to boycott or public declaration of participation in the boycott [does]. "The funding criteria also prevent the final right a person has to perform a private and personal act according to his political beliefs," Yakir said. "Justice [Isaac] Amit's ruling on the boycott law in the High Court of Justice says that a theater company can decide it is not willing to perform in Judea and Samaria without fear."
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שיתוף כתבה
Miri Regev's culture policy once again under fire, High Court petitioned
Culture Minister Miri Regev's changes to artistic funding criteria discriminatory, says group • Under new policy, troupes performing in Judea and Samaria rewarded and those abstaining punished • Culture Ministry says changes in accordance with law.