For Once, the Yes Men Say No

We
regret to say that we have taken the hard decision to withdraw our
film, "The Yes Men Fix the World," from the Jerusalem Film Festival in
solidarity with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (https://www.bdsmovement.net/).

This
decision does not come easily, as we realize that the festival opposes
the policies of the State of Israel, and we have no wish to punish
progressives who deplore the state-sponsored violence committed in
their name.

This decision does not come
easily, as we feel a strong affinity with many people in Israel,
sharing with them our Jewish roots, as well as the trauma of the
Holocaust, in which both our grandfathers died. Andy lived in Jerusalem
for a year long ago, can still get by in Hebrew, and counts several
friends there. And Mike has always wanted to connect with the roots of
his culture.

But despite all our feelings, we
cannot abandon our mission as activists. In the 1980s, there was a call
from the people of South Africa to artists and others to boycott that
regime, and it helped end apartheid there. Today, there is a clear call
for a boycott from Palestinian civil society. Obeying it is our only
hope, as filmmakers and activists, of helping put pressure on the
Israeli government to comply with international law.

It
is painful to do this. But it is even more painful to hear Israeli
policies described as "fascist" - not just from the ill-informed and
the clueless, not just from the usual anti-semitic morons, but from
well-informed Jewish activists within Israel. They know what they're
talking about, and it's painful to think that they could be right.

As
we're sure you know and deplore, the Israeli government has recently
authorized the construction of new units in an illegal West Bank
outpost - one that is illegal even according to Israeli law. On Monday,
nine Palestinians were injured as Israeli authorities demolished their
East Jerusalem home. Tuesday, the Israeli navy stopped a ship from
delivering medicine, toys, and other humanitarian relief to Gaza, and
detained over twenty foreign peace activists, including a Nobel Peace
laureate. Meanwhile, a UN commission was in Gaza investigating much
worse abuses committed early this year.

Whatever
words are applied to such actions, our film mustn't help lend an aura
of normalcy to a state that makes these decisions. For us, that's the
bottom line.

There is certainly another way to
do things in Israel/Palestine, and that is what we must fight for,
however feeble our means. As for our film, there is another way for it
to be seen in Israel... and in Palestine, so that the people most in
need of comic relief, who would never have been able to see it at the
Jerusalem Film Festival anyhow, will be able to see it too. Within the
next few months, we will make this happen.

To those who want to see our film, savlanut and sabir (patience)! And for all the rest of us, a little LESS patience, please.

L'shanah haba'ah beyerushalayim,

Andy and Mike

The Yes Men