Mira Nair turns down invite to attend film festival in Israel

Renowned Indian film director, Mira Nair has turned down an invitation to attend Haifa International Film Festival as a guest of honour to protest Israel's "apartheid" policy.

"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," Nair tweeted.

"I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over," the 55-year-old director wrote.

Nair also tweeted that she supports "Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov't."

Nair said Friday that she had been invited to Israel as a guest of honour at the Haifa International Film Festival with her new film "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", an adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid novel of the same name which boasts Kate Hudson and Liev Schreiber among its stars.

The movie revolves around a Pakistani's love and subsequent disillusionment with America in the post 9/11 era.

The 29th annual Haifa International Film Festival is scheduled to take place in September.

A number of prominent artists and academics have cancelled their planned visits to Israel in the past in response to developments in the region.

Renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking recently pulled out of an appearance at the President's Conference in June in support of the academic boycott of Israel.