Bollywood Director Boycotts Israeli Festival: I'll go to Israel when Apartheid is over

Indian director Mira Nair publicly turned down an invitation from the organizers of the Israeli Haifa Film Festival, and made her political stance known via Twitter.

The award-winning director tweeted this past week, "I will not be going to Israel at this time. I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone." On Friday, Nair furthered the series of tweets, adding, "I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over." And, with a director's flair, she closed with, "I will go to Israel, soon."

She joins a long list of performers, artists and intellectuals who refuse to attend events there in opposition to the government's policies and treatment of Palestinians. For a long time Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd, has link to perform there, as well as Elvis Costello, Stephen Hawking and American author and intellectual Alice Walker. The director also stated she supports the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement and cultural boycott of Israel.

The Haifa festival was hoping to screen Nair's film " The Reluctant Fundamentalist," which premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. The film, adapted from the novel by the same name, revolves around young Pakistani guy pursuing the American dream on Wall Street who unjustly falls victim to America's post-9/11 "war on terror." It stars Kate Hudson, Riz Ahmad, Liev Shcreiber and Kiefer Sutherland.