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British director Mike Leigh withdrew his participation from the ‘Great Masters’ programme of lectures to be staged at the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem in October 2010 in protest at the country’s proposed loyalty oath bill.   The bill, if passed, would require all non-Jewish residents seeking Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to the country as a ‘Jewish and democratic state.’

In a letter to Renen Schorr, the school’s director, Leigh wrote, ‘As you know, I have always had serious misgivings about coming, but I allowed myself to be persuaded by your sincerity and your commitment.   And it is because of those special qualities of yours that I am especially sorry to have to let you down. But I have absolutely no choice. I cannot come, I do not want to come, and I am not coming.

‘Eight weeks after our lunch, the Israeli attack on the flotilla took place. As I watched the world very properly condemn this atrocity, I almost cancelled. I now wish I had, and blame my cowardice for not having done so.  

‘Since then, your government has gone from bad to worse. I need not itemise all that has taken place ... I still had not faced up to the prospect of pulling out until a few weeks ago, but the resumption of the illegal building on the West Bank made me start to consider it seriously. And now we have the Loyalty Oath.

‘This is the last straw – quite apart from the ongoing criminal blockade of Gaza, not to mention the endless shooting of innocent people there, including juveniles ...’

In his written response to Leigh’s letter, Mr Schorr referred to the school’s history of working with Palestinian filmmakers, and stated that the school should not be punished for the actions of the Israeli government.   Schorr went on to say, ‘We agreed to convene a press conference where you had an open platform to express your sharp objections to Israeli policy, should you have desired," he said. "The reverberation of the words you spoke here – from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jenin – would have been heard so much differently.

‘Here, too, you were presented with the genuine opportunity to speak to hearts and minds, and have a direct influence upon public awareness and opinion. To touch the future. To try to change the realities. Yet now you have chosen to stay distant.’

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