MUMBAI: A protest over a Toronto International Film Festival spotlight on Tel Aviv cinema has galvanized the globe‘s creative community.

From Cairo to Calgary, artists can often be divided on their Middle East views but most agree on the need to draw the line between cultural expression and political advocacy.

Increasing numbers of Hollywood stars have spoken out for or against the festival‘s critics, who say the Tel Aviv program boosts Israel‘s tarnished image eight months after its devastating bombing raids in the Gaza Strip.

Said the Toronto Declaration, signed earlier this month by 65 artistes, including actresses Jane Fonda and Julie Christie and musicians David Byrne and Harry Belafonte and writers such as Alice Walker and Wallace Shawn, "We protest that TIFF, whether intentionally or not, has become complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine."

Since then, 1,500 have added their names to the document, including 60 Israelis. The letter denounces the TIFF focus on Tel Aviv as being subverted by "the Israeli propaganda machine."