British BS Campaign Fails, German Anti-BS Campaign Succeeds

Two European celebrations on the same day.  In Britain, a BS effort to boycott the Israel Film Festival has failed.  Did we mention "again"?  Yes, again.  For the second time in so many years.  The festival will take place as planned, co-sponsored by the Israeli government via the Israeli Embassy in London, despite cries of woe from BSemites.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

[The festival's] organizers – including Anat Koren, Odelia Haroush and Patty Hochmann – hit back, maintaining that freedom of expression in the arts is something that “the British have worked so hard to defend.” They added that the festival is a showcase for the many voices of Israel, including Arab Israelis and Palestinians, as well as religious and secular groups.  "An attempt to block the sharing of creative pursuits and the genuine exchange of ideas and values is a disappointing reaction to a festival that sets out to open up lines of communication and understanding,” the organizers said.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies, said that the boycotters seem to have learned nothing from the Tricycle Theater debacle last summer.  "Their blinkered, bigoted approach is fixated solely on Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East and the country they love to hate,” he said.  “They should be looking at ways to export peaceful solutions, not import conflict.”

The spokesman of the movie theaters in which the festival was to be held rejected the notion of a boycott in a "skilfully crafted response":  “We have not previously considered asking questions about the funding of a festival booked at one of our cinemas, and we do not consider booking a festival as any kind of political comment.” 

Not far from there, in Cologne Germany, the Israeli embassy and its supporters managed to squash an exhibit by the self-hating group "Breaking the Silence" which spreads blood libels about Israeli soldiers.  Ynet reports:

As a result of the Israeli pressure, the Breaking the Silence exhibition in Cologne was canceled. The other events related to Palestinian issues were also removed from the jubilee year program and will be held in a separate framework.
 
The director of the embassy's public relations said: "Our activity has proven itself and we have succeeded in canceling the exhibition. We did it with the help of various parties who expressed their resentment at such an event taking place during this special year. The embassy is marking the jubilee anniversary of Israeli-German relations in various events across the country, and it is of great importance to counter attempts to add events that have no connection with the jubilee."  

 It looks like Brits will be flocking by the thousands to see Israeli films.  It looks like Germans will not be flocking to see anti-Israel propaganda.