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Ken Loach calls for bishop's block on Jackie Walker meeting to be reversed

Filmmaker claims 'Zionists' used 'spurious' allegations of antisemitism to persuade church to ban hard-left activist

March 28, 2017 11:27
Ken Loach
1 min read

Ken Loach, the award-winning filmmaker, has claimed a decision to cancel a talk by activist Jackie Walker after an intervention by the Episcopalian Bishop of Edinburgh was the result of action by “Zionist individuals” aiming to stop criticism of the Israeli state.

Mr Loach, a vociferous critic of Israel in the past, also claimed that “exaggerated and spurious”  allegations of antisemitism were being used against pro-Palestinian campaigners in Scotland.

The I, Daniel Blake director, who is a supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn,  joined actress Miriam Margolyes and Scottish activists to sign an open letter published by the Scottish Herald on Tuesday calling on the Episcopalian Bishop John Armes to the reverse the decision to stop Ms Walker from appearing at a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign event at a church hall in Edinburgh on Monday.

In the letter, Mr Loach and the other signatories wrote: “ We regard this as a serious breach of the right to freedom of speech in Scotland.

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