A coalition of nearly 400 Ghanaians, including prominent public figures and a wide array of organizations, has launched a powerful campaign to halt the Israeli Film Festival scheduled to begin today at Silverbird Cinema at The Accra Mall.
In a fiery press release issued yesterday, the group, which calls itself the “Cancel Israeli Film Festival Campaign,” condemned Silverbird for hosting what they described as “Zionist propaganda” and an attempt to “whitewash genocide and apartheid.” The coalition is demanding the immediate cancellation of the event and has called on all sponsors to pull out.
The statement invokes Ghana’s long history of anti-imperialist traditions and solidarity with liberation struggles, arguing that the festival is an “insult to the country’s legacy and values.” The campaigners point to the situation in Gaza, claiming that “even by Israel’s own admissions, over 200,000 Palestinians have been killed,” which they state is approximately 10% of the entire population.
The list of signatories is a who’s who of Ghanaian public life, featuring veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr., former CHRAJ Commissioner Emile Short, acclaimed academic Audrey Gadzekpo, and popular artist Wanlov Kubolor. These figures are joined by dozens of organizations, including Ghanaians Against Genocide, the Economic Fighters League, and the Rastafari Council.
The coalition has issued a strong “Call to Action,” announcing their intention to picket the festival. They have also warned that if sponsors—including Kempinski Hotel, Rolider, and EON—do not withdraw their support, they will initiate public boycotts.
In a particularly scathing part of their statement, the campaigners singled out the University of Media, Arts and Communications (UniMac) for its sponsorship, calling its involvement “a terrible abuse of public trust” for a state-funded institution. They urged the university’s Vice Chancellor to reverse the “dishonourable decision.”
The press release concludes with a resolute vow: “We cannot stand by while the genocide of Palestinians is laundered through art and culture. Ghana has always stood on the side of the oppressed – today we must stand with Palestine.”