Films About Palestine That Are Banned in the USA

This is a film that will be released soon that will undoubtedly be suppressed here.

This is another different preview for Occupation101.

this website posted its status as hidden so ppl couldt judge for them selves on the whole mid east crisis. they just want you to believe in thier narrow minded view that Isreal is the absolute most evil country on earth when in my oppion they are doing what it takes to survive in a part of the world that want nothing then their complete and total discruction.

Maybe they deleted it because you posted it about 300 hundred times today, yesterday and the day before.

It's just more Zionist propaganda anyway. It's not like we don't get enough of that on TV. Horowitz is a racist defending a country he has obtained land in for free because of his ethnicity while the original inhabitants were and continue to be expelled or killed. And we have the privilege/obligation/opportunity to pay for it all.

Israel is not defending its right to exist with our weapons. It is expanding its borders with our weapons.

I for one no longer want to be responsible for this, as I'm sure most Americans would not if they were given the truth by the media. This is not a true democracy. You can't have a true democracy unless people can vote their consiences based on reality. If you distort reality, then you can get anyone to vote any way you like and I think that is what has happened in the states.

Or as the famous physicist/cosmologist Stephen Hawking put it:
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

And that is what we have in this country vis a vis Israel and the Middle East. Most people believe the Arabs are dragging their feet on peace when the truth is it is Israel. Most people believe the Palestinians are the aggressors and that more Israelis than Palestinians have been killed, but that is patently absurd. When Israelis are killed (once in a blue moon), it is breaking news on CNN and some other networks. When Palestinians are killed (which is daily), they are mentioned in passing if at all. Palestinian children killed by Israeli soldiers are almost never mentioned while they do occasionally mention armed Palestinians killed on Palestinian soil.

That the media is biased in favor of Israel is an understatement in the extreme. And that bias is used to keep everyone worried about Israel's survival/existence while Israel hurriedly destroys Palestine along with any traces of Palestinian existence with our weapons we have given to them freely -- duped.

...., thanks for cuing us in on the Zionist troll. Just what we *don't* need or want on this thread.

By the way, I noticed that this story about the banned films was quickly taken down off the front page of Indymedia. Hmmmm, I wonder why?

Seems like it has alot more merit than some of the other stories "the editor" has decided to keep on the homepage.

>quickly taken down off the front page of Indymedia. Hmmmm, I wonder why?

The stories in the "Breaking News" section appear in chronological order. The ten most recent stories are on the front page. As each new story is added, number eleven is bumped to the second page. It's entirely automatic. The software does it. There is no editorial decision making involved.

We've had a lot of Nazi spam today. We hide it as fast as we can. At the moment, this story is back on the front page because I just hid a bunch of spam that was in front of it. But it's story number ten, so as soon as somebody posts another story, be it spam or real news, it will become number eleven and automatically get bumped to the second page. The best way to keep it in our audience's face is to post a comment or two a day to the thread. This will bump it to the top of the "comments" page.

I ordered "Jenin, Jenin" today. I gives me a real special thrill to own a film that Israel has banned. Yeah! May we preserve our own democracy here in America and refuse to be dragged down any further by any association with racist, apartheid Israel.

Here is a review of the Palestinian film "Divine Intervention" that was blocked from the Oscars:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction/message/654

Thanks for the post re: the review on "Divine Intervention". I will read it completely later on but immediately I noticed it claimed that Nazareth is an Israeli town when I am positive it is in the West Bank which is in the West Bank which is still officially considered Palestinian Territory!

I irks me no end to see this kind of misleading reporting! Of course Israel would love to consider all of the Gaza Strip and West Bank as part of Israel---- BUT it is not officially--- at the very least it is still disputed!

As far as much of the Arab world is considered all Israel is still Palestine being occupied by the Zionist entity. And I, an American now knowing of Israel's history, am inclined to agree, especially in light of the fact that it is a racist, apartheid country that has embarked on a campaign of ethnic cleansing to artificially create a JEWS ONLY state, thereby forfeiting its "right to exist".

Believe it or not I actually have read of a book that some Zionist wrote who claims that Petra is Israeli!!! Petra is an ancient city where Jews have NEVER lived in Jordan. Jews can't even claim that Jews lived there even 2000 years ago!

Found out that Nazareth is technically considered inside Israel but it remains mostly inhabited by Palestinians, mostly Muslim and some Christian, like it has for hundreds of years.

The one-state solution whereby Israel is transformed into a true secular democracy with equal rights for all regardless of religion, ethnicity or sex is really the most humane solution, AND renaming it Palestine-Israel AND coming up with a NEW flag that is secular and reflects diversity of the people that have lived there for hundreds of years. No more Israeli flag! No more JEWS ONLY land-use, bypass roads, and settlements! No more Zionism!

It's available from Avator Films; e-mail address: info [at] avatarfilms.com

eco man <tents444@y...>
Date: Fri Dec 20, 2002 8:39 am
Subject: Palestinian film blocked from Oscars. US terrorism again. Drug War and terrorism

As I have illustrated on the CannabisAction homepage: The US corporate media and drug
warriors say that drugs fund terrorism. The truth is that the US government is the beginning
and end of terrorism. The U.S. drug war creates the high illegal drug prices and the black
market that allows drug money to be transferred to terrorists such as the CIA. U.S. support of
Israeli occupation allows it to continue in spite of numerous UN resolutions against Israeli
occupation. The USA = terrorism.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cannabisaction/

----------------ABC News article begins-----
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/palestinian021220_film.html




Actress Manal Khader walks
through an Israeli checkpoint in the
Palestinian feature film, Divine
Intervention. (Avatar Films)
A Film Without a Home
A Palestinian Film Is Stopped
at the Gates of the Oscars

By Leela Jacinto


Dec. 20 — In a snugly fitting mini, with her
stilettos clanking a beat to the soaring music
score, a young Palestinian woman sashays
slowly past a checkpoint while the
security-obsessed Israeli soldiers, their
walkie-talkies emitting robotic voices, watch
stupefied at this magnificent transgression.



Festering rage morphs into burlesque fantasy in Divine
Intervention, a Palestinian feature film directed by Elia
Suleiman that has won international acclaim for its wry
examination of life under Israeli occupation.

Subtitled A Chronicle of Love and Pain, the film takes a
look at Palestinian life in the Israeli city of Nazareth, a
place where neighbors dump garbage in each other's
yards, lovers are reduced to holding hands in cars
parked in the twilight buffer zones at checkpoints, and
balloons soar gloriously free over a land troubled by
watchtowers, barbed wires and weaponry staring in
every direction.

But there was no heavenly intercession for Divine
Intervention this year at the gatepost of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the
selection committee behind the Oscars.

During a conversation with the film's producer Humbert Balsan in October, Academy
Executive Director Bruce Davis informed Balsan that the film was ineligible for
consideration in next year's Best Foreign Language Film category because Divine
Intervention emerges from a country not formally recognized by the United Nations.

It was a decree of cinematic statelessness that sparked a furor in the international film
world, a controversy that raised troubling arguments about the politics of art, identity,
nationhood, and the dogged bureaucratese surrounding the most coveted cinema
awards in the world.

‘In the Service of Politics’

Shot in Israel and France by an international crew, Divine Intervention has been
doing the rounds at international film festivals this year, picking up fans, promoters,
distributors and an impressive array of awards including the prestigious jury prize at
the 2002 Cannes film festival and the European Film Award.

So when word of its stymied Oscar aspirations spread — mostly on the Internet —
many independent filmmakers and Palestinian rights activists launched a heated
cyber protest, with action alerts calling on people to write protest letters to the
Academy.

Enraged filmmakers from across the world denounced the move, saying that art had
been "put in the service of politics" while producers noted that the Academy had, in
the past, considered entries from territories the U.N. did not consider countries such
as Wales, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Experts also noted that unlike Taiwan, which has no official recognition at the United
Nations and is considered by Beijing to be a wayward province of the People's
Republic of China, Palestine has had observer status at the United Nations, where it
has had a Permanent Observer Mission since 1974. Palestine is currently recognized
as a nation by more than 115 countries.

In a statement released earlier this month, Feda Abdelhadi Nasser from the
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations expressed dismay
over the decision. "It is truly regrettable that the Palestinian people, in addition to
being denied the most basic of human rights under Israel's occupation, are being
denied the opportunity to participate in competitions judging artistic and cultural
expression," he said.

All on the Phone

In its defense, the Academy has maintained that Divine Intervention was never
formally submitted for consideration.

"The film was never actually submitted to us," said John Pavlik, an AMPAS
spokesman. "It was never anything beyond a couple of telephone conversations in
which, from what Bruce [Davis] told me, he indicated the film will probably not be
eligible because there are several problems that remain to be solved. But the
Academy did not have to make a decision on whether or not to accept a film from
Palestine — because nothing was submitted."

But Keith Icove, vice president of Avatar Films, the movie's U.S. distributor, maintained
that it was the response from the Academy that prompted the producers not to submit
the film for consideration.

"Yes, the film was not formally submitted, but underneath that decision was the fact
that it was not recommended," said Icove. "It wasn't like we were told 'well, submit it
and we'll see what happens.' We were emphatically told that a film from Palestine
would not be eligible."

Ruling on the Rules

Among the many tricky issues surrounding the entry is an Academy rule that countries
submitting entries for the best foreign film category should submit an entry after a
selection is made "by one organization, jury or committee which should include artists
and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures."

"We try to make sure that committees are made up of filmmakers, artists and
craftspeople so we don't have a situation where ministers and bureaucrats are trying
to make committee referrals," said Pavlik. "Of course, some countries are good about
it, others aren't. But there has to be a committee that can decide and send a selection
as the country's best picture of the year."

The rules also state that the film must first be released in the country of origin and
publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days at a commercial theater.

Rights groups, however, charge that with the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli
occupation since early this year and with curfews a daily facet of Palestinian life in the
territories, cinemas in the area have been non-operational, if not destroyed.

But the Academy's special rules on the foreign film category makes no mention of any
U.N. recognition of a country and by all accounts, the Academy has been accepting
selections based on earlier precedents. "Taiwan and Hong Kong have been
submitting entries since the '50s — they have a precedent that has been established,"
said Pavlik.

Taiwan was expelled from the United Nations in 1971, when the People's Republic of
China was recognized as the island's legitimate authority. Hong Kong was a British
territory for 100 years before it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

A Matter of Identity

But while Taiwan and Hong Kong have an established cinematic tradition,
Palestinians in the territories have not managed to develop a robust film industry.

The reasons, according to Hussein Ibish of the Washington-based American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, are not hard to arrive at.

"I think it's very difficult to produce a thriving national film industry under a military
occupation where there is no independent state as a reference," he said.

Although a new generation of female Palestinian film-makers have been making their
mark — largely because women in the territories find it easier to maneuver restrictions
than their male counterparts — Suleiman's success with Divine Intervention is by all
accounts a first for the Palestinian community.

Painful Issues

But when it comes to matters of categorization and identity of the filmmaker and his
film, there are several complex issues at stake.

Although Suleiman spent his early years in
Nazareth, a northern Israeli city with the largest
Arab population, he came of age in New York City,
where he lived for 12 years before returning to
Nazareth to make his first film, Chronicles of a
Disappearance.

And though he is a citizen of Israel — a minority
called 'Arab-Israeli' by most Israelis — Suleiman
considers himself a Palestinian.

But the 42-year-old filmmaker, who is also the lead
actor in Divine Intervention, has never lived in the
West Bank or Gaza, territories under the official
control of the Palestinian Authority.

For Suleiman, the ruckus over his second feature film has been particularly troubling.
Reached on his cell phone in Paris, where he is currently promoting the film, the
director-star said he preferred not to dwell on the controversy.

"I'm outside the terrain of such a discussion," he said. "I myself have not lived in
Palestine, but the title of Israeli doesn't fit me — I have nothing of Israeli culture. And
aesthetically and culturally, I keep trying to cleanse myself from this political rhetoric. I
really stand outside it. I'm resisting it," he said.

Alarm Bells

Although Suleiman rejects attempts to slot him, the Academy's verbal deterrent to
having the film admitted has raised alarm bells that the organization might be
operating under double standards in several film and activist circles.

When James Longley, producer-director of the recently released documentary, Gaza
Strip, first heard about the fracas through e-mail, he immediately got in touch with the
Academy, threatening to return his 1994 Student Academy Award for his earlier
documentary Portrait of Boy With Dog unless he was satisfied with the explanation
provided by the Academy.

While Longley said he was currently corresponding with the Academy, he maintained
that, "if the Academy does not make a statement to the effect that in the future they
would accept official entries from Palestine in the same way that they have accepted
films from other entities that are not officially recognized as states, I will send back my
award."

On his part, Pavlik insisted that it was "not in his place" to provide any reassurances
about future Academy decisions.

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

But Longley warns of the political aftershocks of the incident.

"This spins out of the realm of films and into the realm of politics and in this case, very
contentious politics," he said. "It brings out all the stereotypes about Hollywood and
the whole discussion about to what extent the Academy is a politically motivated body.
Because of America's enormous cultural and political influence around the world, it is
important that the Academy be perceived as fair and honest, and not just a protector of
particular political viewpoints."

"Sometimes Hollywood tries to be more royal than the king about the Mideast conflict,"
said Ziad Doueri, the Lebanese-born director of the acclaimed feature film West
Beirut and former camera operator of Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino. "The
United States talks about Palestine, [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon talks about
Palestine, but in Hollywood, the Middle East conflict is the last taboo."

But David Horowitz, co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Center for the Study of
Popular Culture, angrily refuted allegations of Hollywood's anti-Palestinian bias.
"Anybody who makes such charges is anti-Semitic," he said. "I think that Hollywood
has bent over backwards to protect the Palestinians and the Muslims. They just can't
handle the difficult truth that we're in a religious war where the religious fanatics have
declared war on us."

Icove is optimistic that Divine Intervention still has a chance at the Oscars next year.
"The issue has been raised," said Icove. "And hopefully, it will be eligible next year."

-----end of ABC News article-----

Above: James Longley received the Student Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his short documentary, "Portrait of Boy with Dog," about a boy in a Moscow orphanage. "Gaza Strip," his first feature documentary, was produced on location during the spring of 2001. James Longley, director of the 2001 feature documentary "Gaza Strip," will return the prestigious Student Academy Award he received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) unless the Academy explains why it has deemed Palestine ineligible to enter the Oscars competition.

"Unless people stand up in vocal opposition to what they feel is wrong, there is a good chance that their views will simply go unnoticed," Longley told EI in an interview. "When I won the Student Academy Award eight years ago I felt it was a great honor and very exciting. The Academy makes a big point of touring you through all of the big Hollywood institutions, introducing you to all the right people and effectively inviting you to be part of the club."

Longley added that, "to now return the award would be a way to publicly reject that invitation on principle, to take a personal stand in favor of free speech and against what I perceive to be unfairness and cowardly partisan politics on the part of the Academy."

EI reported on 10 December that AMPAS Executive Director Bruce Davis had told the producer of Elia Suleiman's award-winning film, "Divine Intervention," that it could not be entered into the competition for Best Foreign Language Film because Palestine is not a recognized member state of the United Nations. In fact, AMPAS routinely accepts official entries from territories, such as Wales, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Puerto Rico that are neither independent states, nor have any status at the United Nations, and its published rules make no mention of a UN membership requirement.

Despite Davis' position that the film could not be entered, John Pavlik, communications director for the Academy wrote to Longley and others who had protested, that since "Divine Intervention" was never formally submitted to the Academy, "no decisions were made by the Academy with regard to accepting the film."

This technicality is rather like a shopkeeper protesting that he has never refused to hire a Palestinian because none has ever asked for a job, while failing to mention the sign on his door stating 'Palestinians need not apply.' In its responses to Longley and media enquiries, the Academy has continued to act as if mere procedure is at issue, while refusing to acknowledge that Davis' ruling that Palestine is ineligible effectively shut out "Divine Intervention."

Pointing to the glaring inconsistencies in the Academy's attempts to explain the exclusion of Palestine, Longley wrote to Davis, "I must ask how AMPAS can explain this apparent double standard." He is still waiting for a reply.

James Longley won the Student Academy Award for his short documentary, "Portrait of Boy with Dog," about a boy in a Moscow orphanage. "Gaza Strip," his first feature documentary, has been exhibited at dozens of film festivals, cinemas and universities around the world. The film was so popular at last April's Chicago Palestine Film Festival that hundreds of people had to be turned away, even when an unscheduled screening was added. Learn more about James Longley and his films at www.littleredbutton.com

Above: James Longley.

Despite audience enthusiasm and excellent reviews in the New York Times, Village Voice and Variety, "Gaza Strip" has been turned down by HBO, POV & NOW w/Bill Moyers & Frontline & Wide Angle (all PBS), and the Sundance Channel. Europe is broadcasting it. Why can't this film be shown in the United States? Let them know what you think.

If you would like your local TV outlets to broadcast "Gaza Strip" -- here is a listing of PBS stations by ZIP code. Other TV outlets wishing to show the film should contact the distributor.

VIDEO preview:
RealAudio metafile

I can hardly wait for the documentary "Occupation 101". From the trailer I saw, it seems to be of very high quality. It's too bad Steven Speilberg is not a Pro-Justice-For-Palestinians activist!! Imagine what a good job he could do on showing the truth about Zionist Israel if he were! Even so, it might not make it to the mainstream theatres, under the current Zionist Occupied Hollywood. He'd be labeled a "self-hating Jew" of course!