Srinagar- The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) has cancelled the Israel Film Festival in Mumbai in response to an online signature campaign against the event. The festival was scheduled to be held at the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) between August 21 and 22, 2024.
A group of citizens on Monday urged the National Film Development Corporation of India to cancel a festival showcasing Israeli films, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on Wednesday and Thursday at the National Museum of Indian Cinema.The signature campaign was organised by the India Palestine Solidarity Forum, an informal group dedicated to raising awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“This screening by the NFDC [National Film Development Corporation] is shamefully being held at a time, when the entire world is witness to Israeli war crimes, the ongoing Holocaust and the genocide in Gaza, and across all of Palestine,” the group said in a statement.
The group said that the management of the National Film Development Corporation and the National Museum of Indian Cinema should be aware that the Indian government has recognised the Palestinian state.
“Thus, at this moment in our collective human history, for the NFDC and the NMIC to be screening Israeli films is totally immoral, unethical, unconscionable, and a travesty of justice to say the least,” it said.
The statement was signed by prominent figures including actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak, senior human rights lawyer Mihir Desai, academic Irfan Engineer, and documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, among others.
Citing the medical research journal The Lancet, the statement added, “The Israeli regime has murdered 186,000 Palestinians, of whom 70% are children and women. The number may have now surpassed 200,000. This means that the Israeli regime has killed over 8% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, which clearly constitutes a Holocaust, no less. (Lancet, July 5, 2024, ‘Counting the Dead in Gaza – Difficult but Essential.’)”
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