Loathesome Ken Loach managed to bully a Scottish film festival into giving back £300 that Israel donated for travel expenses of an Israeli film director.
And here’s the worst of it: The Scots stayed strong when the local Palestinian group protested Israeli involvement, telling them, effectively, to bugger off—until Loach the Roach got involved.
SPSC, which campaigns in Scotland against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, orchestrated a torrent of e-mail protests from people opposed to the move. But festival organisers refused to budge. EIFF managing director Ginnie Atkinson said not accepting support from one particular country “would set a dangerous precedent by politicising a cultural and artistic mission”.
The SPSC then enlisted the support of Mr Loach, well known for his support of Palestinian human rights.
Mr Loach released a statement through the SPSC which read: “I’m sure many film-makers will be as horrified as I am to learn the Edinburgh International Film Festival is accepting money from Israel. The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make this money unacceptable. With regret, I must urge all who might consider visiting the festival to show their support for the Palestinian nation and stay away.”
The following day the EIFF – which has since been in talks with Mr Loach – did a U-turn. It said: “The EIFF are firm believers in free cultural exchange and do not wish to restrict film-makers’ abilities to communicate artistically with international audiences on the basis that they come from a troubled regime.
Who is Loach the Roach? Well, I devoted an entire On Second Thought to his Jew hatred disguised as anti-Zionism. Listen to the segment and you will hear Loach blame the world’s anti-Semitism on the creation of Israel. Yes, that’s right—Loach says that the founding of Israel is the cause of the world’s anti-Semitism.
Score one for the Jew-haters of the world in this round, and one in the minus column for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. And may I say: I’m extremely grateful my great-grandfather showed Edinburgh his backside and came to America in 1914. He doesn’t seem to have been wrong about Scotland.
Loach is a foolish, foolish man that preys upon the ignorance of others.