Israeli Filmmaker Avigail Sperber Hails Cultural Boycott As Necessary Solidarity

Amidst a sweeping cultural boycott pledged by 1800 filmmakers and 3900 signatories overall, Israeli filmmaker and cinematographer Avigail Sperber has come out in vocal support. Few of the new signatories include Payal Kapadia, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix, Lily Gladstone, Emma Stone. A documentary filmmaker with over 30 years of experience, Sperber wrote in an impassioned post on Facebook, “perhaps the pain of cultural isolation is a necessary price to end this horrific war and start healing this wounded and bleeding region.”

In the post, she confessed the boycott triggered a spate of personally troubling questions, nevertheless vital­–a call for the entire Israeli artist community to reflect, “Is your state-sanctioned dissent a meaningful act of resistance, or is it merely a licensed and harmless way for the state to maintain a façade of acceptability in the world of democratic nations?”

Sperber didn’t shy away from reiterating the “initial response of shock and offence” at the pledge: “After all, most of us are opposed to this war and the atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza. We create critical art, sign petitions, go to demonstrations. So why are we the target?”

Ultimately, she drew to a realization, “The existing Israeli anti-war movement, driven by the heroic families of hostages and a growing wave of military reservists refusing to serve, is not enough. It is met with water cannons, arrests and a government that dismisses our wishes as a threat to national security. We are failing to stop this on our own.”

Nadav Ben Simon, chairman of the Israeli screenwriters’ guild found calls to “boycott Israeli creators” deeply troubling and counterproductive. The Israeli Producers Association insisted that the signers of the manifesto are going after the wrong people.

Sperber denounced the Producers’ Association’s subsequent repudiation of the pledge, because “as long as these atrocities are carried out in our name, we’re not doing enough. The responsibility is on us, too. And at a moment when I feel helpless, I’m hoping the world succeeds. That they do whatever it takes to force the Israeli government to stop this horrible war. To stop selling us weapons, to recognize a Palestinian state, to break the siege on Gaza. This is not a cry of victimhood. It is an admission of failure and a plea for help. It re-frames the boycott not as an attack, but as a painful but necessary act of solidarity. It is an unwelcome mirror, yes, but it is showing us the truth. The image is horrifying, but we cannot afford to look away any longer.”