Some of the UK’s most prominent film studios and bodies have received a legal warning over the industry’s boycott of Israeli film institutions.
The letter from Britain’s Lawyers for Israel says the boycott, backed by Hollywood stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Mark Ruffalo, is a breach of Britain’s equality law and could also impact funding and insurance.
The UK outposts of Netflix, Disney, Amazon Studios, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery are among those to receive the letter, along with national companies including the BBC, Film4 and ITV. Other recipients include film organizations such as BFI and Pact, agencies Curtis Brown and United Agents and unions such as Bectu and Equity.
“(The Equality Act 2010) is the UK’s main legislation protecting against racism and discriminatory treatment,” said the letter, which was seen by Variety. “If the UK television and film industry associates itself with acts contrary to this legislation, the organizations themselves risk breaking the law. It also sets a dangerous precedent: one that tolerates the exclusion of individuals and/or organizations based solely on their nationality, ethnicity and/or religion.”
The letter also claims that the boycott’s attempt at “selective enforcement – exempting certain institutions based on the ethnicity or religion of their members – makes it clear that (its) operation is based not only on nationality but also on religion and ethnicity.” According to Film Workers for Palestine, which organized the boycott, it does not apply to Israeli Palestinians, for whom there are different “contextual guidelines.”
Although the boycott purports to target only Israel-related film institutions and not individuals, the Equality Act protects organizations as well as individuals. This will likely be particularly relevant in the film industry, where many actors and producers contract their services through companies.
Studios could potentially be held liable for any violations of the Equality Act committed by their “staff and agents,” according to the letter. Actors, producers, agents, managers, production companies, producers and “any other person who orders, provokes, induces or helps implement the boycott – for example, by encouraging a distributor not to deal with Israeli outlets, or advising a colleague to insist on a boycott clause” could also face liability.
The letter goes on to state that deliberate attempts to breach the Equality Act are “highly likely to constitute a litigation risk and notifiable event” for insurance purposes and may even invalidate insurance policies.
There is also a potential knock-on effect on funding, with most funding bodies such as the BFI requiring productions to comply with the Equality Act.
“It follows that a violation of the (law) through boycott would render a film ineligible for government funding or trigger a clawback of funding already awarded,” the letter warns.
More than 4,000 names in the film industry signed the boycott, including Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Emma Seligman, Joshua Oppenheimer and Mike Leigh. They pledged “not to screen films, appear or work in any way with Israeli film institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies involved in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” In an asterisk, the letter clarifies that “involved” is defined as “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or associating with the government that commits them.”
Last month, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law in Washington, DC, sent a letter to U.S. businesses saying the boycott violates U.S. federal and state laws. “Numerous federal and state civil rights laws clearly prohibit the application of the Hollywood blacklist (boycott) against Israeli, and particularly Jewish Israeli, individuals and organizations based or operating in the United States, and provide victims with a mechanism to hold accountable organizations and individuals responsible for violations of their rights,” the Brandeis Center letter warns. “To be clear: these laws apply to you, not just to direct signatories who would illegally aid, abet, and induce you to enforce the Hollywood blacklist. »
