Workers at the Glasgow Film Theatre are pushing the cinema’s board to adopt a full boycott.
Members of Scotland’s Jewish community have written to the trustees of a charity-run Glasgow cinema in support of an ongoing worker boycott of products linked to the genocide of Palestinians.
Earlier this month Unite Hospitality members working at the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) reached an agreement with management to remove goods for sale at the cinema listed under Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Coca-Cola products will no longer be sold, and a wider review of the GFT’s relationship with other goods and organisations will be reviewed.
A complaint submitted to Scotland’s charity regulator about the decision was quickly dismissed, before a group of individuals from Glasgow’s Jewish community spoke out against the boycott in the Jewish Telegraph.
But the Herald reports a group of 50 Jewish people from across Scotland, including members of the local Garnethill Synagogue and Israeli citizens, have sent an open letter to the GFT in support of the boycott.
The letter reads: "We are Jews from Glasgow and across Scotland who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Coca-Cola and who applaud Unite’s campaign to have its products removed from the Glasgow Film Theatre.
"Having seen recent reports in the press which claim that 'Glasgow’s Jewish community' is opposed to GFT’s decision to remove Coca-Cola, we write to offer a counterpoint to the mistaken view that the Jewish community speaks with one voice on this matter.
"While it is true that there are many Jewish people in Scotland who have a deeply felt connection to Israel, and unfortunately some who support the abhorrent actions of the Israeli state, there are also many of us who support the Palestinian cause and who oppose genocide.
"We reject the idea that the interests of Israel and that of Jewish people everywhere in the world are aligned.
"The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign is a peaceful and effective method of direct action. As Jews who closely follow the developments in Israel/Palestine, and with full awareness of the history and the sensitivities, we view such acts of practical solidarity with Palestinians as legitimate and necessary.
"The BDS campaign does not amount to discrimination against Jewish people. Coca-Cola is not Judaism! The discomfort felt by supporters of Israel when faced with solidarity with the Palestinian cause is a matter for their conscience, and not a consequence of their ethnicity or religion.
"It is unfortunate that the tenor of the national conversation around Israel/Palestine has contributed to making some Jewish people feel uncomfortable with expressions of support for Palestine.
"The major fault in this matter lies with the national press and politicians who lazily or mendaciously conflate Judaism and Zionism, but the situation is not helped by fearmongering, and willingness to identify the Palestinian cause with antisemitism, on the part of some of our communal leaders and Jewish newspapers.
"A number of the signatories of this letter work in the arts sector in Glasgow; all of us support the idea that workers should be instrumental in decision-making within their own workplaces.
"Should those who will vote on the continued boycott of Coca-Cola products at the GFT wish to better understand the multiplicity of views within Glasgow’s Jewish communities on this matter, we would be happy to meet to discuss this further."
The supportive letter comes after Unite Hospitality rep Nick Troy told The Glasgow Bell that being entirely BDS compliant would mean “cutting advertising agreements with Barclays and McDonald's, and a cultural boycott of BDS-listed actors, directors, and film companies”.
A Glasgow Film spokesperson told the Herald: "We have received many emails from customers, staff, volunteers and other public bodies. All of the correspondence will be sent to the board so they can consider all views as they discuss the wider question of GFT adopting the BDS movement.
"This is still under review by GFT’s Board of Trustees, in line with our legal and charitable obligations."
