Right-wing organization Im Tirtzu has released a report claiming that several Israeli citizens are among the activists participating in the yearly anti-Israel "Israeli Apartheid Week" initiative. Israeli Apartheid Week, organized by the boycott movement against Israel and marked on more than 150 college campuses around the world, includes lectures, films and protests designed to condemn and isolate Israel. According to the report, one of the starring participants is Israeli organization Zochrot, with its Film Festival on Nakba and the Right of Return, which was aired at Columbia University in New York during this year's Israeli Apartheid Week earlier this month. Additionally, the University of Valencia in Spain, the University of the West of England and the University of Sheffield in England each held viewings of the film "Five Broken Cameras," in which Israeli producer Guy Davidi documents the violent protests in the village of Bilin. The film received 200,000 shekels ($51,000) in state funding and from the New Fund for Cinema and Television. "I strongly reject the attempt to present boycott actions taken by Israelis as an act of treason. In my view, boycotting and divesting are legitimate political actions that represent a positive way to protest -- a positive alternative to violent action, which I strongly condemn. It is the right of every person to choose to boycott certain products if they don't accept the origin or the way the product is manufactured. Furthermore, it is every civilian's responsibility to be politically engaged in what is being done with his or her tax money and to encourage others to engage as well," he said.
In response, Davidi remarked that "Personally I did not participate in the events mentioned in the report, not every place that screens 'Five Broken Cameras' holds the same views as I do. As far as I know, Im Tirzu themselves screened the film as well as the IDF and the Civil Administration. I would be very happy for anyone who wants to view it or organize a screening to go ahead and do so. It is important to note that 'Five Broken Cameras' itself does not relate to the boycott issue."
Another Israeli film shown during Israel Apartheid Week was "Roadmap to Apartheid" by Israeli filmmaker Eron Davidson.
According to Im Tirtzu, Israeli filmmaker Dror Dayan's film, "Even Though My Land is Burning," was shown in Berlin. The film documents Palestinian and Israeli activities against "the daily oppression and violence of the Israeli occupation."
Other Israelis on Im Tirtzu's list included historian Ilan Pappe, one of the leaders of the academic boycott of Israel and of the greater boycott, divestment and sanctions movement; Dr. Uri Davis, a Fatah member who converted to Islam and married a Palestinian woman from Ramallah; academic Dr. Simona Sharoni; Jeff Halper, one of the Israelis who participated in a 2008 Gaza flotilla; Ronnie Barkan, one of the founders of the Boycott From Within movement; Sahar Francis, director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, which provides legal assistance for Palestinians in Israeli prisons; and Joint Arab List Knesset members Hanin Zoabi and Jamal Zahalka, who according to Im Tirtzu, have participated in Israeli Apartheid Week activities this year or in past years.
"The Israelis who take part in Israeli Apartheid Week are the ones who authorize, inflame and feed the boycott movement against Israel," Im Tirtzu said in a statement.
Zochrot responded, saying, "Zochrot's Festival 48 mm operates in Israel and abroad to fight Israel's forgetting of the Nakba, which has been ongoing since 1948 until today, in memory of the struggle of millions of Palestinian refugees and [in an effort] to realize their right to return to their homeland."
Zoabi refuted claims that she had participated in the annual event, saying in a statement, "Im Tirtzu is so paranoid that they are imagining things. ... MK Hanin Zoabi and MK Jamal Zahalka were not at Oxford University, nor in England, nor at Israel Apartheid Week."
Zahalka said, "I was at Oxford about 10 years ago, and I said the same things there that I do at the Knesset podium. I would be glad if Im Tirtzu would publish the video and content of my lecture."
Barkan of Boycott From Within said, "I do not accept interviews with the Zionist media." Francis of Addameer similarly said, "I am not prepared to address the Israeli media."
Israel Hayom tried to contact all the individuals named in the Im Tirtzu report, but did not receive responses from the others by press time.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו