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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Philip Oltermann European culture editor

Film-makers pull out after Amsterdam festival condemns Palestine protest

IDFA billboard in 2019
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam said the use of the words ‘From the river to the sea’ went against its aim to provide a safe space for debate Photograph: Robert vant Hoenderdaal/Alamy

A dozen film-makers and artists have withdrawn their work from the world’s largest documentary festival after its organisers strongly condemned the use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at an opening-night protest.

During a speech by the artistic director of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), Orwa Nyrabia, at the start of the event last Thursday, three activists took to the stage holding a sign with the slogan, which some say is a call for a secular state in historic Palestine but which others note is used by radical Islamist groups to promote the eradication of Israel.

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