Jewish community in Glasgow fights back against cinema’s Coca-Cola boycott

Concerned Jewish leaders – including Susan Siegal, chair of Garnethill Synagogue and a trustee of Glasgow’s Jewish Representative Council; Timothy Lovat, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and chair of the Jewish Council of Scotland; and Stacey Devlin, an administrator for the Jewish Council of Scotland – last week met GFT’s CEO, Allison Gardner, and the cinema’s board chair, Yahya Barry.

“We made it clear how upset we were,” Siegal told the JC. “Our position is that if they adopt BDS – which they haven’t yet confirmed either way – it would amount to discrimination against an ethnic minority.”

The GFT, home to Glasgow’s annual film festival, is just a short walk from Garnethill Synagogue. Many Jewish community members regularly attend screenings, organise group outings to films with Jewish themes, donate money, and some even have named seats at the cinema.

However, after the Coca-Cola ban, some of the Jewish community chose not to attend. "Some of our members have told me they will never set foot in there [GFT] again. Others have said they have been taken off the mailing list,” Siegal said. She stopped attending GFT due to the threat of the boycott.

Lovat warned that if the cinema decides to back BDS, it will contradict its own values. “The cinema – which by its own admission is a safe space for everybody – will be precluding those who feel uncomfortable with the BDS movement, including Israelis,” he said. “It encourages an open space for breeding antisemitism. It is reminiscent of pre-Second World War Germany.”

During the meeting, Lovat presented GFT leaders with a list of Israeli-made technology. “I have an issue with GFT boycotting Coca-Cola under the guise of BDS when almost all of the technology in the cinema has Israeli connections,” he said.

“We handed them a list of everything they should be boycotting if they’re serious. I have some sympathy for people who follow the BDS movement because they believe they are standing up for their principles, but they should do it properly. If they mean to say we’re not welcome, they should say it.”

Lovat, who has attended several meetings about BDS at different Scottish institutions since October 7, said the GFT discussion stood out. “This was the first time in any of these meetings that I have had an apology.”

He acknowledged the pressure the festival organisers were under: “This was their biggest week of the year.”

Siegal added: “To have pickets and boycotts outside the cinema would have threatened the entire thing – we understand that and sympathise with it – but it was the wrong decision for our community.”

Before the controversy, Siegal would visit GFT “at least twice a month” and had been planning synagogue events at the cinema for Glasgow’s 850th anniversary. “In the past, we’ve reserved blocks of seats. Thirty of us went to see One Life, then came back to synagogue for tea and discussion.”

Now, she said, cinemas in Glasgow are “not a very friendly place to be Jewish”.

A spokesperson for GFT told the JC: “On February 24, Unite the Union staff alerted us they would refuse to sell Coca-Cola and Diet Coke from February 28. Attempts to agree a pause on this escalation were unsuccessful.

"GFT CEO Allison Gardner made an operational decision to halt the sales as we identified the risk of potential confrontations that could impact the welfare and wellbeing of all staff and customers during the opening weekend of Glasgow Film Festival – the charity’s busiest time of year. Therefore, GFT agreed the temporary removal of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke until the end of Glasgow Film Festival.

"We have also committed to, as soon as is practical after the conclusion of the festival, carrying out an ethical review of the products we use whilst the remaining stocks of Coca-Cola are used up. The purpose of this review is to further our goal of sourcing fair trade, locally-sourced or environmentally-friendly products wherever possible and practical.

“Allison Gardner, CEO of Glasgow Film, apologised to representatives present at the recent meeting for any hurt and upset that had been caused by the operational decision she made to remove Coca-Cola and expressed her deep regret that members of the Jewish community in Glasgow feel unwelcome at GFT.”

The statement went on, “GFT remains committed to our ethos of ‘cinema for all’ and has screened a number of titles in the last year that depict Jewish life on screen including A Real Pain, One Life, The Goldman Case and The Brutalist.

“The wider question of GFT adopting the BDS movement is still under review by GFT’s Board of Trustees, in line with our legal and charitable obligations.”

GFT has hosted screenings for the UK Jewish Film Festival, including last November when the cinema screened the British-Jewish Life on Film short films programme, which was followed by a panel with soloist Joy Dunlop and director Benjamin Till.

Last October, the Jewish Film Festival’s chief executive warned of the “erasure of British-Jewish culture from national cultural life” as Jews in the creative industries faced “deafening silence and avoidance tactics” from mainstream arts organisations after October 7. Multiple venues dropped the Jewish festival from their programming.