The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) has been accused of breaching charity law by not serving Coca-Cola products from the cinema bar for the duration of the Glasgow Film Festival.

This decision to boycott followed objections from staff who refused to handle any goods or brands with links to Israel, in line with the Palestinian BDS National Committee. (Its members include the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, which consists of groups including the terrorists Hamas, PFLP and Islamic Jihad.)

Unite Hospitality, the union for hospitality workers in bars, restaurants, cafes, casinos and hotels across the UK and Ireland,  announced that the workers’ demands had been met on 3 March 2025 following a boycott by the GFT’s front-of-house and cleaning teams.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written a letter to the OSCR, the independent regulator for charities in Scotland, citing breaches of sections 7 and 8 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the Act), pointing out that anti-Israel campaigns such as boycotting companies that operate in Israel are outside GFT’s charitable purposes and therefore illegal.

Furthermore, UKLFI believed that the GFT was also in breach of section 66 of the Act in relation to the breaches of duties by the GFT’s Trustees, the Equality Act 2010 and its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

A spokesperson for the GFT has commented: “The GFT has also confirmed that the wider question of the adoption of the BDS movement is still under review by the board, in line with their legal and charitable obligations.   At this stage our Board of Trustees had started but not completed a review of the Unite staff requests. The goal of the review is to ensure that any decisions made do not infringe our legal and charitable obligations and that all staff can have their voice heard”.

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “The political activism undertaken by the GFT by boycotting Coca-Cola products is clearly not in line with the GFT’s legal and charitable obligations, and brings the reputation of the GFT into disrepute, both as a business and a charity.  We urge the Board of Trustees to reconsider their position and stop the boycott.“