| Boycott | |
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| Directed by | Julia Bacha |
| Produced by | |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | |
| Music by | Nainita Desai |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
Boycott is a documentary film about three Americans' lawsuits against their state governments in response to anti-BDS laws which caused said governments to cancel their business contracts after they refused to pledge that they would not engage in a boycott of Israel. The film is directed by Julia Bacha; it premiered in 2021.
Boycott explores anti-BDS laws and related freedom of speech issues [1] through the stories of a publisher, an attorney, and a pediatric speech pathologist. The three Americans filed lawsuits against their state governments in response to the laws' effects on their respective livelihoods when said governments canceled their business contracts after they refused to pledge that they would not engage in a boycott of Israel. [2]
Alan Leveritt is the publisher of the Arkansas Times , a liberal publication. Leveritt is not specifically interested in boycotts of Israel but objects to the anti-boycott law in Arkansas because of its implications for free speech. As a result, the Times can no longer receive advertising payments from a local state university. [2] In response, Leveritt and the American Civil Liberties Union sue the state of Arkansas. As of December 1,2021 [update] , the suit was still active in the court system and the Arkansas law was still in effect. [3]
Bahia Amawi is a pediatric speech pathologist in Texas. As a Palestinian American, Amawi boycotts Israel in solidarity with her family who lives under the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. Despite the need for her services in her school district near Austin as a speech pathologist who can speak Arabic, she is fired after refusing to pledge not to engage in boycotts. [2] Amawi's challenge to the law in Texas is successful, and she regains her contract and forces legislators to narrow the scope of the legislation. [4]
Mik Jordahl is a lawyer in Arizona who has pledged to boycott companies involved in the Israeli occupation after taking a trip to the West Bank with his son, who is Jewish. As a result of anti-boycott laws, he is forced to give up a contract to provide legal assistance to incarcerated people; he experiences financial difficulty after continuing to provide the legal services pro bono. [2] Jordahl's challenge to the law in Arizona is successful, and he regains his contract and forces legislators to narrow the scope of the legislation. [4]
The documentary juxtaposes Amawi and Jordahl's legal victories with information about the successful lobbying effort that led to the implementation of anti-boycott laws in 34 states. [2] It links these laws to the American Legislative Exchange Council, describing the Council as the origin of the efforts to pass them at the state level; it additionally states that the Israeli government created a firm called Kella Shlomo to bypass United States laws against foreign interference, and that the firm provided millions of dollars in funding to groups that went on to support the anti-BDS legislation, including Christians United for Israel. [4] [5]
Boycott is directed by Julia Bacha, who had previously created other films that were critical of the Israeli occupation; [1] these films, produced in partnership with Just Vision, focused on relations between Palestinians and Israelis. In contrast, Boycott focuses on anti-BDS laws and anti-boycott laws in America specifically. [6] The film was produced by Just Vision [2] and by the company's leader Suhad Babaa, as well as by Daniel J. Chalfen. [7] Cinematographers were Amber Fares and Kelly West, while editors were Flavia de Souza and Eric Metzgar. Music was composed by Nainita Desai. [8]
According to Bacha, production of Boycott was funded primarily by grants from groups including Doc Society, International Documentary Association, Fork Films, Sundance Institute, CrossCurrents Foundation, and Threshold Foundation. [9]
Produced in the United States, the documentary has a runtime of 70 minutes. [8]
Boycott premiered on November 14, 2021 [2] [9] at Doc NYC. [8] The film was shown at the 2022 South by Southwest Film Festival, [10] and in March 2022 at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London. [5]
Boycott was reviewed in The Austin Chronicle after its appearance at South by Southwest 2022. The review praised the film's for avoiding false balance by focusing on "the pain of the Palestinian people", but stated that "for all its focus on Palestine and Israel [...] Boycott is a film about American politics and the forces that would choose to influence it". It concluded that "while Boycott presents us with positive outcomes – legal restrictions overcome or suspended – it’s hard not to feel unfinished [...] with so much power and money being unleashed on our legal system, it’s hard to feel like any political documentary offers true closure". [10] A review in Mondoweiss found that "the triumph of Boycott is that it puts human faces to the struggle", characterizing the core message of the film as "people can have impact on the world around them". [11]
The IsraelFootball Association is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes a variety of association football leagues where the highest level is the Israeli Premier League; as well as national cups such as the Israel State Cup, the Toto Cup, and the Israel Super Cup; also, the Israel national football team. The IFA was founded in 1948 as the Palestine Football Association and is based in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. The Association is controversial due to its inclusion of clubs playing in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Arkansas Times, a weekly alternative newspaper based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, is a publication that has circulated more than 40 years, originally as a magazine.
StandWithUs (SWU) is a nonprofit right-wing pro-Israel advocacy organization founded in Los Angeles in 2001 by Roz Rothstein, Jerry Rothstein, and Esther Renzer.
Julia Bacha is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker. She has filmed under-documented stories from the Middle East including issues related to Palestine. Her 2021 film, Boycott, explores anti-boycott legislation and related freedom of speech issues.
Just Vision is a non religiously unaffiliated nonprofit organization that utilizes storytelling, media and public engagement campaigns to highlight Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leaders working to end the occupation and conflict through unarmed means. It is based in Washington, New York and Jerusalem.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law, defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and "respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties". The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Kenneth L. Marcus in 2012 with the stated purpose of advancing the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promoting justice for all peoples. LDB is active on American campuses, where it says it combats antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
TLVFest, officially the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The festival is focused on LGBTQ-themed film from around the world.
Boycotts of Israel are the refusal and calls to refusal of having commercial or social dealings with Israel in order to influence Israel's practices and policies by means of using economic pressure. The specific objective of Israel boycotts varies; the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for boycotts of Israel "until it meets its obligations under international law", and the purpose of the Arab League's boycott of Israel was to prevent Arab states and others from contributing to Israel's economy. Israeli officials have characterized the BDS movement as antisemitic.
The current campaign for an academic boycott of Israel was launched in April 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The campaign calls for BDS activities against Israel to put international pressure on Israel, in this case against Israeli academic institutions, all of which are said by PACBI to be implicated in the perpetuation of Israeli occupation, in order to achieve BDS goals. Since then, proposals for academic boycotts of particular Israeli universities and academics have been made by academics and organisations in Palestine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The goal of the proposed academic boycotts is to isolate Israel in order to force a change in Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, which proponents argue are discriminatory and oppressive, including oppressing the academic freedom of Palestinians.
The Amendment No. 28 to the Entry Into Israel Law prohibits the entry into Israel of any foreigner who makes a "public call for boycotting Israel" or "any area under its control" – a reference to the Israeli settlements. It denies entry, visa and residency permits to these affected foreigners.
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (IABA) was a proposed anti-BDS law and amendment to the Export Administration Act of 1979 designed to allow U.S. states to enact laws requiring contractors to sign pledges promising not to boycott any goods from Israel, or their contracts would be terminated, and to make it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for American citizens to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
With regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict, many supporters of the State of Israel have often advocated or implemented anti-BDS laws, which effectively seek to retaliate against people and organizations engaged in boycotts of Israel-affiliated entities. Most organized boycotts of Israel have been led by Palestinians and other Arabs with support from much of the Muslim world. Since the Second Intifada in particular, these efforts have primarily been coordinated at an international level by the Palestinian-led BDS movement, which seeks to mount as much economic pressure on Israel as possible until the Israeli government allows an independent Palestinian state to be established. Anti-BDS laws are designed to make it difficult for anti-Israel people and organizations to participate in boycotts; anti-BDS legal resolutions are symbolic and non-binding parliamentary condemnations, either of boycotts of Israel or of the BDS movement itself. Generally, such condemnations accuse BDS of closeted antisemitism, charging it with pushing a double standard and lobbying for the de-legitimization of Israeli sovereignty, and are often followed by laws targeting boycotts of Israel.
Mohammed el-Kurd is a Palestinian writer and poet, who has gained prominence for his description of Palestinians' lives under occupation in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. El-Kurd has referred to evictions as a form of ethnic cleansing, and has also accused Israel of imposing apartheid-style laws and regulations onto Palestinians in the occupied territories. He has also spoken out about the oppression in the Gaza Strip, notably the Israel–Hamas war.
Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) is a pro-Israel organization which works to counter anti-Israel sentiment in the entertainment industry. It was founded in 2011 by David Renzer, Steve Schnur, and Ran Geffen-Lifshitz. CCFP is strongly opposed to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Anti-Palestinianism or anti-Palestinian racism refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the Palestinian people for any variety of reasons. Since the mid-20th century, the phenomenon has largely overlapped with anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia because the overwhelming majority of Palestinians today are Arabs and Muslims. Historically, anti-Palestinianism was more closely identified with European antisemitism, as far-right Europeans detested the Jewish people as undesirable foreigners from Palestine. Modern anti-Palestinianism—that is, xenophobia or racism towards the Arabs of Palestine—is most common in Israel, the United States, Lebanon, and Germany, among other countries.
Naila and the Uprising is a 2017 documentary film focusing on the story of Palestinian feminist Naila Ayesh and other Palestinian women who played prominent roles in the First Intifada in the late 1980s.