Cinemas in have defended hosting an Israeli film festival amid calls for a boycott.

On Tuesday (May 14), Artists for Palestine UK, a network of artists and cultural workers who advocate for Palestinian liberation, wrote to venues urging them to boycott Seret film festival.

The international film festival, which started 13 years ago, runs from May 16 to 23 with a mission to “promote Israeli culture through cinema”.

According to the group, Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, Everyman Cinemas Hampstead and Barnet, and JW3 will host the festival.

In its statement calling for these cinemas to boycott Seret, Artists for Palestine UK claimed that the festival was part of Israel’s “broader artwashing strategy” to cover up “crimes against the Palestinian people”.

According to the group, Picturehouse and Curzon cinemas have already pulled screenings of the festival.

Seret also does not list Phoenix Cinema as a host venue on its website, although screenings at Everyman cinemas Hampstead and Barnet, and at JW3, can be seen.

Odelia Haroush, co-founder of Seret told Ham and High that she had no doubt the festival would be a “success”, despite calls for a boycott.

She said: “Most of our screenings are sold out already. I do not see a point to cancel culture.

“Through the films you can see all the diversity within the Israeli society, and a lot of the filmmakers are criticising Israel as well.”

She added that the films were chosen for their “artistic quality”, and not for their politics.  

JW3 in Finchley Road has now defended its decision to host the film festival, describing itself as a long-standing “proud partner” of Seret.

The Jewish Community Centre London’s director of marketing, Oliver Marcus, said: “As the home of Jewish culture and conversation, JW3 continues to make sure that we engage with a wide variety of subjects through our artistic programme, of which the Seret festival is an important part.

“We hope that through the content of the festival audiences are able to engage with the subject and have conversations that matter now more than ever.”

A spokesperson for Everyman cinemas Barnet and Hampstead said: “As a cinema operator, we have no control over the content of films, events or shows and we simply offer our guests as wide a range of screenings to watch in our venues as we can.”

Curzon, Picturehouse and Phoenix Cinema have all been approached for comment.