Irish Cultural Events Reject Israeli Government Funding
by Andre Soares
As a protest against the war in Lebanon, two Irish cultural festivals have refused sponsorship by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
The Irish Film Institute (IFI) refused funding for a Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival screening of Walk on Water, Eytan Fox’s thoughtful Israeli film about how real peace — on both a social and personal level — cannot be achieved through acts of vengeance and bloodshed.
IFI Director Mark Mulqueen issued a statement to the Israeli Embassy in Ireland earlier this week, explaining that "the decision is taken in light of the current activities of the Israeli government and prompted by the performance of your Ambassador in explaining these acts to the Irish public.
“It is important for us to separate the screening of an Israeli feature film from activities of the Israeli government. In allowing the screening to go ahead, this is not an act of artistic censorship, something we would be loath to do.”
Additionally, the Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures rejected funding for the travel expenses of Israeli musician Avshalom Farjun. Farjun is scheduled to perform at the festival on Aug. 26.
As an aside, among the films screened at the Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (which came to a close on Aug. 7) was the curious Fucking Different, described as "an Anthology of highly diverse, some very explicit, shorts in which lesbian filmmakers from Berlin were asked to make a short film about their idea of male gay love and sexuality and, vice-versa, gay men were given the task of making a short film about lesbian sexuality. Both male and female audience voted some of the vignettes as the best of the Amsterdam gay and lesbian film festival."
Mulqueen quote found in GCN.
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