Abroad coalition of nearly 400 individuals and organisations has called for the immediate cancellation of the Israeli Film Festival scheduled to take place at Silverbird Cinema, Accra Mall in Ghana from September 16 to 20, 2025.
In a statement released on Monday, the campaigners described the festival as a “Zionist propaganda event” aimed at whitewashing “genocide and apartheid” amid ongoing violence in Gaza.
They urged Silverbird and all listed sponsors to withdraw from the event, warning that failure to do so will trigger boycotts.
The coalition argued that Ghana’s history of anti-imperialist struggle and solidarity with liberation movements makes the festival a direct affront to national values.
“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,” the statement declared.Citing international reports and Israel’s own figures, the coalition accused Israel of overseeing the deaths of more than 200,000 Palestinians, around 10 percent of Gaza’s population, through bombings, sniper attacks, and starvation.
The opposition is backed by prominent Ghanaian figures, including veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr., former CHRAJ commissioner Emile Short, filmmaker Nii Kwate Owoo, academic Audrey Gadzekpo, scholar Dzodzi Tsikata, trade unionist Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, artist Wanlov Kubolor, and media freedom advocate Kwame Karikari.
Other signatories include; Oliver Barker-Vormawor of Democracy Hub, youth leader Hardi Yakubu, Pan-Africanist Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, and feminist scholar Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo.
They are joined by grassroots organisations, professional networks, artists, students, and faith-based groups, representing a cross-section of Ghanaian civil society.
The coalition are also pressuring companies and institutions linked to the festival, including the SAF STL Amandi Foundation, Kempinski Hotel, Rolider, Sienna Services, EON, and the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMac).
UniMac’s involvement, they argued, is particularly troubling, given its status as a public institution funded by Ghanaians.
“Its support for this festival is a terrible abuse of public trust,” the statement read.
The coalition announced plans to picket Silverbird Cinema throughout the festival and called on the public to join peaceful protests.
They further encouraged Ghanaians to boycott all companies that continue to sponsor the event.
“We demand Silverbird cancel this festival immediately and pledge never again to platform perpetrators of apartheid and genocide,” the coalition insisted.
The long list of supporting organisations includes Ghanaians Against Genocide, Justice and Freedom 4 Palestine, the All-Africa People’s Revolutionary Party, the Economic Fighters League.
Others are; Socialist Movement of Ghana, Rightify Ghana, Rastafari Council, Tax Justice Coalition Ghana, Feminist activists, LGBT+ Rights Ghana, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Ghana movement, among others.
With global outrage over the Gaza conflict intensifying, activists say Ghana must not allow itself to be used to legitimise what they describe as Israel’s “racist, apartheid and genocidal regime.”