Three Muslim countries ban 'Noah,' more likely to follow
Three Muslim countries have banned the movie Noah, which is based on the biblical story. More are likely to follow.
Censorship boards in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have
confirmed to Paramount Pictures that they will not release the film,
which stars Russell Crowe and begins its global release later this
month.
Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt are expected to follow suit,
stating that the movie offends Islamic teaching and the “feelings of the
faithful” with its dark representation of a holy figure.
Al-Azhar, Egypt’s leading Sunni Muslim institute, criticised Noah in a statement on Thursday, arguing that the £75 million movie should be banned in the country.
“Al-Azhar
renews its rejection to the screening of any production that
characterizes Allah’s prophets and messengers and the companions of the
Prophet (Muhammad),” the message read.
“Therefore, Al-Azhar announces the prohibition of the upcoming film about the Allah’s messenger Noah – peace be upon him.”
Paramount is unsurprised that Noah is facing difficulties in Muslim countries, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio has agreed to edit the film’s promotional materials to
include a disclaimer making it clear that this is an imaginative
adaptation of the Bible story, not a literal one.
“While artistic
license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the
essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith
for millions of people worldwide,” Paramount’s statement reads.
Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins and Logan Lerman also feature in Noah,
based on the Book of Genesis story in which Noah builds an ark to save
his family and pairs of animals from the great flood. In the Koran, a
whole chapter is devoted to him as a holy messenger.
Here's the trailer for Noah. Let's go to the videotape.
'Hollywood was a Jewish invention to take over the United States'
If you thought that the sort of boorish anti-Semitism that's in the title of this post went out of style in the 1940's, you were wrong. Hezbullah's al-Manar television (Lebanon) made the claim in the title of this post this week.
Israeli filmmaker beaten unconscious by Arab 'youths' shortly after his film won festival's top prize
Israeli filmmaker Yaniv Horowitz was beaten unconscious by Arab 'youths' outside a French film festival shortly after his movie, Rock the Casbah, won first prize at the festival.
He is reported to have lost consciousness and has been subsequently
treated. Horowitz is said to have returned immediately to the festival
after treatment. Authorities are estimating that the attack was racially
motivated.
Horowitz, who represents Israel, was attacked immediately after the
screening of the film by a group of Arab youths. The director lost
consciousness and was treated at the festival. After recovering from the
blows he received, he returned to the festival area in "good
condition".
After the violent incident, Horowitz's film won the Special Prize of
the Jury for Best Picture. Israeli singer and musician Assaf Amdursky
also received an award for a movie he wrote music.
The film "Rock the Casbah", starring Yon Tumarkin, follows the story of
young soldiers in the first intifada in Gaza. The soliders are located
on the roof of a Palestinian family whose son is involved in the murder
of one of their battalion.
But hey - they're just 'youths.' It doesn't mean anything, does it?
5 Broken Cameras and The Gatekeepers' loss at the Academy Awards was no loss for Israel, Bayit Yehudi MKs said on Monday morning.
"The Israeli film, the anti-Israel 5 Broken Cameras did not win the Oscar. I did not shed a tear," Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett wrote on Facebook.
MK
Uri Orbach (Bayit Yehudi) took to the social network to write a
sarcastic message: "Make a face like you're disappointed that the two
documentary films that 'represent Israel' didn't win the Oscar for Best
Documentary. Oy, so unfortunate."
...
MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) expressed support for a campaign by reservists who are considering suing the creators of 5 Broken Cameras for libel.
After appearing on a Channel 10 talk show together with a reservist who served in Bil'in, Shaked called the soldier a hero.
"The whole studio was full of pride when he spoke," she stated. "The truth will win over those trying to twist it."
A group called Consensus: Guardians of the IDF Spirit, an NGO meant to counter anti-IDF attacks in the media has posted a video to YouTube that spoofs 5 Broken Cameras, as
well as Waltz with Bashir and Beaufort, Israeli films that were nominated in 2008 and 2007, respectively.
Let's go to the videotape (sorry, Hebrew only).
Meanwhile, The Gatekeepers, which features interviews with the last six directors general of the General Security Service, is panned for being dishonest.
However, the film repeatedly ignores
history and context. It blames Israel for the Palestinian hostility and
violence that occurred after 1967, when Israel began administering the
West Bank.
The viewer never learns from the film that terrorism against Jews and
Israelis was not a result of Israel’s administration but rather has
been a regular feature of life since pre-state days.
Palestinian Arabs murdered over 1,000 Jews between 1920 and 1967, and
they ethnically cleansed all Jewish communities from the areas they
captured during the 1948 war, including the West Bank, Gaza and eastern
Jerusalem. The pattern of terrorism simply continued after Israel’s
victory in its 1967 defensive war. Yasser Arafat organized 61 Fatah
military operations from the West Bank in the few months after the war,
and 162 Israelis were killed by terrorists between 1968 and 1970.
Visually and verbally, the film portrays Israel as a heartless
occupier. Audiences get no information about how harsh life was for
Palestinians under Egyptian and Jordanian rule between 1948 and 1967,
with rampant childhood diseases, economic stagnation and restricted
civil and political rights. In addition, the documentary completely
overlooks the big picture of positive Israeli-Palestinian relations
after 1967.
Even as Israel sought to stop terrorists, it also instituted
Palestinian municipal self-government and administration, introduced
freedom of speech and association, and vastly modernized the Palestinian
economy as well as Palestinian health, welfare and education, turning
the West Bank and Gaza into the world’s fourth fastest growing economy
in the 1970s and 1980s.
In line with his political agenda, Moreh tries to paint all religious
Israelis, settlers and right-of-center parties as extremist and
intransigent.
That article, however, goes on to give a very simplistic view of the so-called Jewish Underground. The Jewish Underground was not just a 'group of extremists from Hebron' as the article would have you believe, and most of the people who were eventually arrested and imprisoned for being part of the 'Underground' had nothing to do with a plot to blow up the mosques on the Temple Mount. Anyone whose name came up in the interrogation of the 'Jewish Underground' (which used many of the same methods that are used with 'Palestinian terrorists') was charged with being a member of a terrorist organization.
While the critique of the movie is correct, the critique of the 'Jewish Underground' has been colored too much by what the General Security Service heads said about it in the very same movie. We don't believe what the movie says about the 'Palestinians.' Why believe what it says about the Jews?
LATMA presents Iranians in space, coalition talks and five broken gatekeepers
This week on the Tribal Update, Latma presents the Iranian captain of
the Starship Gondiprise, brings you a behind the scenes look at
Netanyahu's coalition negotiations, and interviews the director and
producer of the Oscar nominated Israeli documentary, "Five Broken
Gatekeepers.
"Visit our website and our Facebok page to vote on your
favorite Latma sketch and song. They will be played on a special
programming day on Radio Galei Yisrael, on Purim, February 24 beginning
at 4 pm!
And now for your entertainment pleasure, here's the original, complete version of the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street. It's one of my father-in-law's favorite movies. And I can't even watch it this year....
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
