I just got out of an inspiring Jewish Voice for Peace membership meeting in Philadelphia, and I’ll have more to say later, but some of the themes voiced by JVP leaders are impatience at the fact that the Palestinian story can still only be heard in the U.S. if mediated by Jews– but along with that a readiness to use Jewish privilege on behalf of justice in the Middle East. Oh and one other giant theme: Things are changing in the U.S. and changing at a rapid pace. Everywhere I went at the conference, I heard optimism about the way the weather is changing, joyous feelings about Americans opening their eyes.
All these themes are evident in a wonderful piece by Harvey Weinstein, the producer, and Julian Schnabel, the director, at Daily Beast today about the movie Miral, which I believe opens tomorrow at the United Nations. It’s great that powerhouse Weinstein is embracing the film and the fight around Schnabel’s film– he says they won on the appeal of the film’s initial R-rating. It is also great that these two men are stressing the Jewish identity/privilege issues around the making of the film, and in naming these issues, using their Jewishness to try and end the racism in American culture. But listen to them:
our film Miral—a sober and deeply emotional portrayal of Arab and Muslim issues—may not reach the audience we think it deserves in this climate. Its message may be drowned by controversy and muffled by anti-Muslim rhetoric….
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.…
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.
…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. …
In the early days of Hollywood, many Jewish filmmakers and movie-industry executives felt compelled to change their names and disguise their Jewish identities in response to widespread anti-Semitism. Like many American Muslims today, they came to this country in search of a better life for themselves and their children, attracted by the noble American values of freedom and tolerance. Regrettably, the spectacle of anti-Muslim sentiment that we are witness to today is an echo of the anti-Semitism of yesterday.
