From The National Post.
Artists, authors sign letter protesting Israeli spotlight at TIFF
Mark Medley, National Post Published: Thursday, September 03, 2009
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images Actor Danny Glover is one of more than 50 people have added their name to what’s being called The Toronto Declaration, a letter condemning the Toronto Film Festival’s complicity in “the Israeli …
TORONTO — The signatories of a new letter accusing the Toronto International Film Festival of becoming “complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine” run the gamut from an Oscar-winning actress to a rabble-rousing author to a Talking Head.
More than 50 people have added their name to what’s being called The Toronto Declaration, including musician David Byrne, actors Danny Glover and Jane Fonda, and author Alice Walker.
The letter, drafted by a committee that includes Canadian writer Naomi Klein and Israeli filmmaker Udi Aloni, is the latest move in a controversy that began when Canadian director John Greyson withdrew his short documentary, Covered, from the festival last week. The veteran filmmaker is protesting the festival’s inaugural City to City Spotlight on Tel Aviv, a 10-movie program that TIFF’s website promises will “explore the evolving urban experience while presenting the best documentary and fiction films from and about a selected city.” This year is Tel Aviv’s 100th anniversary.
Greyson penned an open letter to festival co-directors Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey, as well as to Noah Cowan, artistic director of the under-construction Bell Lightbox, blasting the initiative.
The declaration states that while the signatories are not protesting the individual filmmakers participating in the program and do not seek to exclude Israeli films from the festival, “in the wake of this year’s brutal assault on Gaza, we object to the use of such an important international festival in staging a propaganda campaign on behalf of what South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann have all characterized as an apartheid regime.” Continue Reading →
General Ahmad Vahidi delivers a speech to the Iranian parliament after being nominated as defence minister. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP

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