Boycot Israel 47

Cultural solidarity in Quebec: An interview with filmmaker Malcolm Guy
Stefan Christoff, The Electronic Intifada.
An important development in the growing international campaign for a cultural boycott of Israel has recently taken place in Quebec, Canada.

Documentary filmmaker Malcolm Guy made media headlines last year for withdrawing from a jury for a key award for Tolerance in Cinema at the Rendez-vous du cinema quebecois (RVCQ) film festival in 2008, given that the award was funded by pro-Israel organizations. In response, this year the festival cancelled the major cinematic prize for the 2009 edition of the main festival celebrating filmmaking in Quebec.

The prize for recognizing "tolerance" in cinema was established as a joint initiative from the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) and the Alex and Ruth Dworkin Foundation, was launched at the RVCQ festival in 2002. Although the festival award was cloaked as a celebration of progressive cinematic works from Quebec, celebrating the promotion of "tolerance" in cinema, in fact the award was intimately intertwined with the pro-Israel lobby in Quebec.

The award was established as a cultural initiative after major protests AT Concordia University in Montreal against a visit from the recently elected right-wing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2002. The festival award, although publicly celebrating "tolerance," was initiated and funded by organizations such as the CJC which maintains a fundamentally intolerant position toward the Palestinian people and openly defends the ongoing Israeli military occupation of Palestinian lands.
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