Hollywood execs may blacklist Cruz, Bardem for accusing Israel of 'genocide'

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109. Harvey Weinstein about "Miral"

Based on the autobiographical novel by Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal, Miral tells the story of three generations of Palestinian women, and in particular an orphaned Palestinian girl, as they navigate the personal and political landscapes of their times, starting with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, through the first nonviolent Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987, to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Miral is not a documentary or a polemic; it is a window into the lives of Palestinians, whose voices have gone unheard in the United States for far too long. It tells the story of Palestine from the point of view of Palestinians, which makes some people very uncomfortable.

Indeed, before making Miral, we ourselves knew very little about the experiences of Palestinians and their history. Having grown up Jewish in the U.S., our families had deep connections to Israel and Zionism and we were rarely, if ever, exposed to the other side. It is ironic that perhaps only a Jewish filmmaker could make such a film about Palestinians in the political climate of the U.S. today.

Some in our community have refused to see the film; it has been accused of being "anti-Semitic," "anti-Israel," and a "promotion of Hamas." In reality, Miral cannot be categorized in simplistic terms like "pro-Palestinian" or "anti-Israel." If anything, it is pro-understanding and pro-peace. It would seem that any film that treats Palestinians as three-dimensional characters is bound to be smeared by those who insist on reducing this conflict to us vs. them. Such a worldview demands that the Palestinian story, told through Palestinian voices, remains taboo. Indeed, just this week we appealed the MPAA's R-rating of Miral, which we were convinced was a result of the film's political content—and its unapologetic portrayal of the Palestinian point of view—and little else. Had we not succeeded in overturning the decision we could have been left with a situation in which a 16 year old is able to pick up a newspaper and be exposed to hate-filled anti-Muslim views but would not be able to go to a neighborhood multiplex to see the true-life story of another 16 year old, whose nonviolent struggle for freedom and dignity stands in stark contrast to the vile rhetoric about Arabs and Middle Easterners.

Unless the Palestinian narrative is finally understood and acknowledged by Israelis and their American supporters, there will never be peace in the Holy Land.

Understanding the "other" requires us to step out of our comfort zones, to see ourselves in them. When an Israeli or a Jewish American can watch a film that features a Palestinian father sick with worry over his young daughter's future and they identify with that father, with his concern, we are one small step closer to peace. And by refusing to stoke the flames of Islamophobia here in America and beginning to truly see American Muslims as no different than Americans of any other faith, we are one step closer to fully realizing the values upon which our country was built.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/12/miral-a-new-movie-about-muslims-and-israelis.html