University of Haifa Cancels Screening of "No Other Land"

Watch No Other Land (Hebrew subtitles)

After the group “Standing Together” obtained approval from the library at the University of Haifa to screen the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, the right-wing organization "Btsalmo" – an organization that specializes in political harassment and the cancellation of events it opposes – demanded that the university cancel the screening, arguing that screening the documentary requires the approval of the Film Review Council. Consequently, the event’s organizers, who had arranged the event with the university’s library, were asked to request official permission from the university to hold a public event. Standing Together complied, and attached to their request a legal opinion from a law professor clarifying that the screening does not require the approval of the Film Review Council. Nevertheless, on April 6, 2025, the Dean of Students revoked the approval that had been granted to screen the film. 

That same day, we contacted the Dean of Students demanding that the university allow the screening take place as scheduled. In the appeal, Attorney Oded Feller, ACRI's legal advisor, clarified that the Film Review Council's regulations explicitly state that only films intended for commercial screenings require its approval—screening the film as part of a free student activity at a university to a group of students does not require the approval of the Council. As the appeal states, "'requests from political entities seeking to silence voices are not sufficient reason for an academic institution, entrusted with freedom of expression, to cancel a film screening and student activity." 

On April 7, 2025 we received responses to our letter from the University of Haifa and the Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture’s Legal Advisor stated that the screening did not fall under the category of events that need the approval of the Film Review Council. The university defended its decision to request permission to screen the movie from the Film Review Council, and stated that it would allow the screening to take place.  

ACRI’s appeal, April 6, 2025 (Heb) 

Response from the Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Culture, April 7, 2025 (Heb) 

Response from the University of Haifa, April 7, 2025 (Heb)