What’s up with the Toronto Film Festival? The actors supporting a boycott of the Israeli Film industry have gotten it all wrong. Boycotting Israel’s film industry is divisive, serves nobody’s interests. One of the films in the TFF is The Time That Remains a movie made by an Elia Sulieman a Palestinian-Israeli who lives in France and has made all his movies in Israel (with some scenes in the West Bank). He refused to take any money from any of the Israeli Film Funds because of the “Situation”. That is his right, of course, but notice he never signed this ill-conceived petition to boycott the TFF. Jane Fonda has now retracted her statements (she claimed she did not read it carefully enough). I would hope that Danny Glover would also consider the matter again.

I believe The Other Israel Film Festival stands as a more pro-active approach to change through art and open the dialogue by sharing films from the region that are not commonly seen. We support the need for change in Israel but do not create further borders by boycotting a program.

Israelis and Palestinians in the film industry and the theatre have worked together for half a century and there is no arena that supports the idea that Israelis and Arabs can work together successful and productively. Many of the Israeli films to come out in the last 20 years have been critical of Israel - however more to the point- none of the film makers are remotely connected to the government and its policies - although most are funded by government funds. The younger generation has gone further, many young actors and actresses have gone on to marry across ethnic lines. It is working out just fine - I would love to hear from you what you think of this boycott.

A supporter of our festival, Professor Hamid Dabashi, spoke to us this week and noted that sometime in the future Arabs and Jews will have to learn to live together. When that happens there will need to be a unifying culture. Israeli film and art that includes Arabs and Jews equally is the basis for this culture and will be the foundation of a way of life.

We know what Natalie Portman, Jerry Seinfeld and Sacha Baron Cohen think- it is completely counterproductive to boycott a festival that is showcasing the best of what Israel had brought to the world of cinema - They are not saying Israel right or wrong- they are saying art is a means for social change and means of expression of artists- stopping this------What are they thinking? Please let me hear you weigh in.