“Appropriate action” has been taken against the organisers who announced that the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Arts was boycotting Israel.

Glasgow Life, a charity which manages the “delivery” of the Glasgow Festival, has confirmed that the individuals who declared on Instagram,  that the festival was boycotting Israel, did so without authority.

UK Lawyers for Israel wrote to Glasgow City Council, one of the Glasgow Festival’s major funders,  following an Instagram post by the Glasgow Life team, saying that the Glasgow Festival would boycott Israeli artists.

The Glasgow Life staff had written a letter on Instagram  that the Festival would be organized in accordance with the principles of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).

Those who signed the letter were Richard Birkett, Festival director; Siobhan Carroll, Open Programme Convenor; Poi Marr, Curator; Pelumi Odubanjo, Assistant Curator; and Diana Stevenson, Festival Manager. 

Glasgow City Council have now told UKLFI that “Glasgow Life have confirmed that the letter published on Instagram was not sanctioned by the organisation. ….. We are unable to investigate staff who are employed by an external organisation, in this case Glasgow Life. We have been assured that the matter was investigated by Glasgow Life and they have confirmed that appropriate action has been taken.”

UKLFI also wrote to the British Council, another of the financial sponsors of the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Arts. They responded by saying that the British Council supported three specific projects in the Glasgow International programme -an exhibition from the Philippines, hosting curators from Africa, Asia and East Asia and a Scotland-France co-commission.

They also said that there is a contractual obligation that all recipients of their funding must comply with legislation.

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented, “We are pleased that Glasgow Life has taken appropriate action against its staff, who were operating an illegal and racist boycott, and acting without authority.  We hope that Israeli artists will feature at the next festival.”