Hollywood actor Danny Glover, philosopher Grace Lee Boggs and ten others have released a public statement backing the cultural boycott of Israel and denouncing the inclusion of the film that they appear in "American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs" in an Israeli government-sponsored film festival.

“We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel,” Glover and others say in a statement sent to the online news publication, The Electronic Intifada (click here or see below for full statement). The statement is co-signed with ten other individuals involved with the award-winning documentary that focuses on the life and work of the 98-year-old Boggs.

“As people featured in the film … we were shocked to find the film slated to be screened at the DocAviv festival in Israel on May 13th and 15th. This was scheduled without our knowledge,” the statement notes.

The authors of the statement say they asked for the film to be withdrawn but “festival organizers and film producers informed us that this was not possible and they would move forward with the screening, over our objections. This film uplifts the life work and legacy of Grace Lee Boggs. She has explicitly stated her support of the boycott [against Israel] and believes this screening is in direct contradiction to her legacy and ongoing work".

Boggs, a daughter of Chinese immigrants who lives in Detroit in the USA, has been a social-justice activist and author “whose seven decades of political involvement encompass the major US social movements of the past hundred years,” including Civil Rights and Black Power.

 

Danny Glover is known for his support of progressive worker and social-justice struggles across the world. Last year Glover was in South Africa as a guest of the National Union Of Mine Workers (NUMSA). Whilst in Johannesburg he joined a worker protest march led by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU). Both NUMSA and POPCRU are affiliates of South Africa's largest trade union confederation, COSATU, one of the first trade unions in the world to back the boycott of Israel.

 

In 2005, Palestinian civil society called for an international boycott of Israel as a non-violent method to bring Israel in line with international law. The boycott has been modeled on the successful boycott of Apartheid South Africa and has an increasing number of progressive Israelis who also back the campaign.

 

BDS South Africa welcomedSince the Palestinian call for a boycott against Israel was issued in 2005 several high profile artists, musicians and authors have cancelled Israeli performances and engagements including Stevie Wonder, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Alice Walker, Stephen Hawking, Mira Nair and the music band Faithless.

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FULL STATEMENT BY GRACE LEE BOGGS, DANNY GLOVER AND OTHERS
We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel.

As people featured in the film American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, we were shocked to find the film slated to be screened at the DocAviv festival in Israel on May 13th and 15th. This was scheduled without our knowledge.

We immediately took action to have the film withdrawn from the festival. The festival organizers and film producers informed us that this was not possible and they would move forward with the screening, over our objections.   This film uplifts the life work and legacy of Grace Lee Boggs. She has explicitly stated her support of the boycott and believes this screening is in direct contradiction to her legacy and ongoing work as a revolutionary.

We will pursue opportunities for this film and the ideas within it to be made available in Palestine in a way that supports the movement and will post our response as soon as possible.

ISSUED ON 13 MAY 2014 BY MUHAMMED DESAI ON BEHALF OF BDS SOUTH AFRICA
 

 

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