Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev established a task force to examine the Nakba film festival. Photo: Wikipedia.

JNS.org – Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev (Likud) has established a task force to examine the legality of the “48mm” film festival, also known as the “International Film Festival on Nakba and Return.”

The festival, first held in 2013, is “dedicated to films about the Palestinian Nakba and return of refugees.” It features documentary and feature films from around the world as well as films by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers.

The Palestinians use the word Nakba (“Catastrophe”) to describe the displacement of Palestinian refugees during Israel’s War of Independence. The task force is expected to determine whether films slated to be screened at the festival, scheduled for Dec. 4-6, violate Article 3B of the Budget Foundations Law, which stipulates that the state will not fund any form of art that encourages incitement to violence or racism, or supports armed struggle against Israel.

“It is our responsibility and our duty to make sure that public funds are not diverted toward incitement against the state,” Regev said.

The task force will watch the films and then submit a recommendation to the Culture Ministry, which will in turn review the team’s findings with Israel’s attorney general.