Responding to the objection of The Kashmir Files by Israeli filmmaker and IFFI jury chief Nadav Lapid, the Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon said Lapid “should be ashamed”. Gilon added that he wants to “apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity.”
Israel Ambassador slams IFFI jury
Hours after Israeli filmmaker and jury chief at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Nadav Lapid described the controversial movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ as “propaganda” and “vulgar”, Israel’s ambassador to India Naor Gilon said Lapid has abused the Indian invitation to chair the panel in the worst way and “should be ashamed”.
Gilon wrote on Twitter, “An open letter to #NadavLapid following his criticism of #KashmirFiles. It’s not in Hebrew because I wanted our Indian brothers and sisters to be able to understand. It is also relatively long so I’ll give you the bottom line first. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED. Here’s why..”
An open letter to #NadavLapid following his criticism of #KashmirFiles. It’s not in Hebrew because I wanted our Indian brothers and sisters to be able to understand. It is also relatively long so I’ll give you the bottom line first. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED. Here’s why: pic.twitter.com/8YpSQGMXIR
— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022
In a series of tweets, the Israeli envoy said he was extremely hurt to see this.
“In Indian culture they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you,” he tweeted.
1. In Indian culture they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you.
— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022
“The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted. As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship,” said Gilon.
I understand your need in retrospect to “justify” your behavior but I can’t understand why you told @ynetnews afterwards that the minister and I said on stage that there is similarity between our countries because “we fight a similar enemy and reside in a bad neighborhood”.
— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022
“My suggestion. As you vocally did in the past, feel free to use the liberty to sound your criticism of what you dislike in Israel but no need to reflect your frustration on other countries. I’m not sure that you have enough factual basis to make such comparisons. I know I don’t,” he added.
The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted.
As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship.— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022
The controversial remark
On Monday, IFFI Jury Head Nadav Lapid, at the closing ceremony of the film festival, called the film ‘Kashmir Files’ “propaganda, vulgar”. His remarks which have since gone viral have invited across-the-board criticism.
Talking about the controversy, a video from the festival went viral on social media in which Nadav was seen making controversial remarks about the film.
#Breaking: #IFFI Jury says they were “disturbed and shocked” to see #NationalFilmAward winning #KashmirFiles, “a propoganda, vulgar movie” in the competition section of a prestigious festival— organised by the Govt of India.
? Over to @vivekagnihotri sir…
@nadavlapi pic.twitter.com/ove4xO8Ftr— Navdeep Yadav (@navdeepyadav321) November 28, 2022
“I would like to thank the head of the festival and the director of the programming for the cinematic richness of the program, for its diversity, for its complexity. It was intense. We saw seven films in the debutant competition, and 15 films in the international competition, the front window of the festival. 14 out of them had cinematic qualities, defaults and evoked vivid discussions,” he said in his speech.
