Charity-run cinema The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) has been urged by campaign group Art Workers for Palestine Scotland (AWFPS) to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in an open letter.
Published Monday, February 17, the letter now has over 600 signatures from artists, actors, film workers, and audience members calling on the GFT to adhere to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) policy and endorse the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
PACBI has been endorsed by over 150 organisations in Scotland, including 19 film organisations, collectives, and festivals.
AWFPS have said that endorsing PACBI is the “most meaningful” way that Scottish cultural organisations can contribute to social change.
The letter comes after a recent call from nearly 70 Palestinian filmmakers to use film as a medium to speak out against genocide and the “erasure, racism and censorship that enable it.”
In their letter, AWFPS made the following concessions:
“Remove Barclays adverts that play prior to some film screenings. Barclays is directly complicit by investing billions in weapons companies arming Israel’s genocide.
“Endorse the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and refuse to collaborate with complicit Israeli cultural institutions.
“Develop and implement a wider BDS policy around GFT’s commercial activities, including hospitality and advertising, (…) This includes a commitment to removing and replacing Coca-Cola from the GFT bar.”
Among signatories, British-Palestinian University of Glasgow Rector, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, and the entire GFT Unite Hospitality branch, who voted unanimously in support of the letter and its demands.
A spokesperson for the GFT Unite Hospitality branch said: “Our branch puts our entire support behind AWFPS’s open letter, with a unanimous vote of support from our Front of House and Cleaning staff.
“Our members are enthusiastic about implementing this policy in our workplace and contributing to the global movement against genocide, apartheid, and oppression.”
GFT had previously shown solidarity for Ukraine as they pulled Russian films from the Glasgow Film Festival following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. AWFPS have said that this shows a historical precedent at GFT for the boycott of films produced in countries deemed as oppressors.
In a statement, a GFT spokesperson said: “The letter from Art Workers for Palestine has been forwarded to the Glasgow Film Board who will review it through our internal procedures.”
UPDATE 03/03/25
The GFT have removed all Coca-Cola products from the cinema bar and has confirmed that other applications of BDS, like removing Barclays adverts from their screenings, are under review. This comes as the letter has recieved 1,300 signatures and protests at the Glasgow Film Festival, which is held at the GFT.
Feautred Image Credit: Callum Skinner / The Herald
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