RAMALLAH: British film director Ken Loach brought a message of warning to the Palestinians on his first visit to the occupied territories: if you are divided you will fail. The 74-year-old filmmaker and veteran social activist arrived in the West Bank Tuesday to attend a screening of his award-winning drama “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” which depicts the Irish struggle for independence from Britain in the 1920s and the ensuing civil war. Hundreds of Palestinians packed into Ramallah's Cultural Palace to watch the film, which won the Palme D'Or at Cannes in 2006 but was subjected to fierce criticism when it was released in Britain. “We just thought you might find it interesting,” the softly spoken director told the audience with a wry smile. “It's exactly like Hamas and Fatah,” whispered one member of the audience as the film drew to its bloody and tragic conclusion, clearly surprised by the obvious parallels between the splits among the Irish Republicans and those of the Palestinian factions. “The experience from Ireland is: if you are divided, you will fail,” Loach told the audience, which broke into applause as he stepped onto the stage. An unassuming yet deeply committed social activist, Loach has taken a central role in the campaign for a cultural boycott of Israel. In 2009, Loach withdrew his film “Looking for Eric” from the Melbourne film festival in protest over Israel's sponsorship of another filmmaker, and several months earlier, he took a similar stance at the Edinburgh film festival. “We just have to chip away at the boycott and make certain that Israel becomes a pariah – and encourage the boycott of trade,” he said. – Agence France
