Yesterday’s Times reported that Sir Jeremy Isaacs condemned the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s decision to return a £300 grant from the Israeli Embassy.

“I have admired the Edinburgh International Film Festival for many years and would like to think that this appalling decision will be rescinded.”

Lord Janner said

“By banning the Israeli Embassy from supporting a film-maker the festival is helping to exclude Israelis from British cultural life, something that is clearly unfair.”

In one piece of good news, though, the Festival has agreed to pay Tali Shalom Ezer’s travel costs out of its own pocket. This is something we called on them to do. Ironically, therefore, Ken Loach’s protest means that rather than the Israeli embassy, the Edinburgh International Film Festival is now directly supporting Israeli culture.

Finally, on the 19th of May, the Scotsman‘s Leader condemned the EIFF and Ken Loach. As it does not appear on the Scotsman website, we reproduce it below:

IT IS a sad day for artistic freedom when the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) responds to threats of a political boycott and possible disruption by sending back a 000 donation from the Israeli Embassy.

Next month, EIFF had planned to show a short film by a graduate of Tel Aviv University. The movie, Surrogate, is about a female sex therapist. The grant was to help pay for the director to come to Edinburgh.

But that was before the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign threatened to picket screenings and persuaded the noted left-wing film-maker, Ken Loach, to call for a total boycott of EIFF. Despite the Israeli film having nothing to do with politics, the Festival’s organnisers gave into the blackmail. They have issued a fatuous statement defending the decision; “Although the Festival is considered wholly cultural and a-political, we … accept that [Mr Loach] speaks on behalf of the film community …”

But Ken Loach does not speak on behalf of the entire film community. He speaks only for himself. EIFF cannot accept public money from Scottish Screen and Edinburgh Council yet play political games. Ken Leach has 3 new film, Looking For Eric (with a cameo by Eric Cantona) in the running for the prestigious Palrne d’Or at Cannes. There are four Israeli films being shown at the festival, including Ajami, which is co-directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian. Curiously, Mr Loach is not proposing a boycott of Cannes