Ghanaians Demand Cancellation of Israeli Film Festival in Accra, Citing Tel Aviv’s Genocide in Palestine

A coalition of over 500 Ghanaians and organisations has called for the cancellation of the Israeli film festival scheduled to be held at Silverbird Cinema, Accra Mall, in Ghana, from September 17 to 20, 2025.

As seen in a petition titled #FreePalestine and #BoycottIsrael, the coalition condemned Silverbird Cinema for agreeing to host “Israeli Film Festival organised by the Zionist state.”

Any platform for apartheid, genocide, and the mass killing of Palestinian civilians is complicity in crimes against humanity,” the coalition noted, adding, ‘It is breathtaking hypocrisy that Silverbird, having just screened the anti-apartheid film Comrade Tambo’s London Recruits on 7 September, now seeks to celebrate the ‘culture’ of today’s worst apartheid state.

In reference to the ongoing genocide lawsuit brought against Israel by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the coalition notably expressed that “Silverbird must understand the legal, social and political weight of this decision, as the ICC and ICJ processes expand worldwide,” adding that, “Across Africa, people are proud to stand against Israel’s racist, apartheid regime, and global solidarity with Palestine is stronger than ever.”

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The Israeli Embassy in Accra, however, in an attempt to ensure Israel’s culture, social diversity, and day-to-day life of an Israeli is exchanged culturally with that of Ghanaians, maintained that “Screenings [into the cinema] will run free of charge and open to the public from 17 September to 20 September at 6 pm daily, offering audiences an unforgettable week of storytelling, entertainment and cross-cultural dialogue.”

According to the Israeli Embassy, the contested film festival was “Organised under the theme of cultural exchange and collaboration, the festival seeks to go beyond entertainment to foster dialogue and mutual understanding,” that is, an attempt to whitewash its image on Ghana soil.

In defiance of the Israeli government, the coalition demands that Silverbird Cinema in Accra cancel the film festival immediately and pledge never to platform perpetrators of apartheid and genocide.

With the call for a boycott ongoing, a defiant demonstration ensued, as some Ghanaians staged a protest at the Silverbird Cinema on September 16, 2025.

Israel, on the other hand, is on edge, pushing propaganda against the recent confirmation of its genocide in the Gaza Strip by the United Nations Committee.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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