Scotland’s Glasgow Festival of Contemporary Arts Accused of Illegally Discriminating Against Israeli Artists

A group of pro-Israel lawyers in the United Kingdom has accused The Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Arts of discriminating against Israeli artists and performers by not allowing them to participate in Scotland’s biennial event that was held last month.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has called on the Glasgow City Council and the British Council — both of whom funded the festival — to launch an investigation into Glasgow International, the group announced on Thursday. The event, which took place June 7-23, is Scotland’s largest festival for contemporary art. It is held over the course of three weeks every two years across the city of Glasgow. The festival is managed by Glasgow Life, a charity that organizes cultural and sporting events on behalf of the Glasgow City Council.

On June 21, organizers of this year’s Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Arts, who are also employees of Glasgow Life, announced in an open letter published on Instagram that the 2024 event would be organized in accordance with guidelines of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. The organizers also falsely accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and expressed their support for “Palestinian liberation.”

The open letter was signed by Glasgow Festival Director Richard Birkett, Open Program Convenor Siobhan Carroll, Curator Poi Marr, Assistant Curator Pelumi Odubanjo, and Festival Manager Diana Stevenson. All five of them also signed an open letter in December 2023 — two months after the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel — that called for a boycott of Israel and falsely claimed Palestinians are being “assassinated” and “massacred by the Israeli military.”

UKLFI pointed out that Glasgow International’s boycott of Israeli artists and performers this year was in violation of the Equality Act of 2010, which states that it is illegal to discriminate against someone providing a public service by not providing them with the opportunity to publicize, promote, and ticket their performances and works. By not offering Israeli artists and performers contracts to work at or for the festival, Glasgow organizers acted illegally, the group of lawyers said in a letter written to the Glasgow City Council and the British Council.

“The staff of this arts organization apparently believe themselves to be taking the ‘high moral ground’ when in fact they are engaging in false slurs,” said UKFLI Director Caroline Turner. “Far from promoting equality or diversity, they are illegally discriminating against a whole race and nationality. We hope that their funders will take note of their illegal and discriminatory behavior and will ensure that this does not happen again.”