Netflix and BBC sent legal letter over Israel film boycott: “Creates a dangerous precedent”
Major production houses in the UK, including Netflix and the BBC, have been sent a letter by legal representatives for Israel, condemning the Hollywood boycott of the country as it “creates a dangerous precedent”.
Last month, thousands of high-profile names in Hollywood, including the likes of Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Emma Stone, and Joaquin Phoenix, signed a letter on behalf of Film Workers for Palestine, pledging that they would not work with Israeli film institutions while the war in Gaza is still ongoing.
This was met with backlash from prominent Israeli film institutions, which has now been furthered by a letter sent to major entertainment corporations within the UK, including Disney, Amazon Studios, the BBC, talent agencies, and unions such as Equity.
The UK Lawyers for Israel state that the boycott could potentially be in breach of the UK Equality Act. In the letter, seen by Variety, they said: “[The Equality Act 2010] is the key legislation in the UK protecting against racism and discriminatory treatment”.
They added: “If the UK television and film industry colludes with acts contrary to this legislation, organisations are themselves likely to be in breach. It also creates a dangerous precedent: one that condones the exclusion of individuals and/or organisations based solely on their nationality, ethnicity, and/or religion.”
The legal group also accused the boycott of “selective application — exempting some institutions based on the ethnicity or religion of their members,” which “strongly indicates that [its] operation is based not only on nationality but also on religion and ethnicity,” based on the fact that Film Workers for Palestine previously stated that it does not apply to Palestinian Israelis, for whom there are “context sensitive guidelines”.
The letter subsequently claims that if the boycott is found to be in breach of the Equality Act, it could have a negative effect for funding and insurance to be pulled from productions, as the law applies to organisations as well as individual people.
It said this “would render a film ineligible for government funding, or trigger clawback of finance already granted,” as well as attempts to break the Equality Act being “highly likely to be a litigation risk and a notifiable event” in terms of insurance policies.
So far, none of the production houses that were sent the letter have publicly responded to the claims made by The UK Lawyers for Israel. However, Film Workers for Palestine have responded in a statement seen by Far Out, which said: “We are unimpressed by pro-Israel lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel’s desperate attempt to curtail our signatories’ freedom of expression through its pitiful letter. This kind of intimidation tactic is used so commonly and unethically by UKLFI that a formal complaint was filed with the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority in Britain over ‘a seeming pattern of vexatious and legally baseless correspondence aimed at silencing and intimidating Palestine solidarity efforts.’”
They added: “We will never be deterred from our work to end complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid and will continue contributing to a global movement aimed at Palestinians achieving their UN-stipulated rights. It is a legal and moral imperative all should uphold, and we thank our community of artists who stand resolutely for humanity.”
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