Anti-Israel propaganda becomes mainstream entertainment

Israel Today discovered a new movie set for release called "Miral" which, while it may not be the first hostile to Israel movie released in mainstream (for all I know, the Little Drummer Girl might've preceded it), it's certainly unfortunate that it may get that kind of distribution:

Scheduled for a March 2011 release, the new feature film “Miral” follows the turbulent life of a young Palestinian Arab girl who becomes involved in terrorism against Israel. It unabashedly demands sympathy for this girl and other Palestinian terrorists in their battle with a Jewish state that is portrayed as arbitrarily cruel and barbaric.

There is little surprise there, since the film is an adaptation of a book written by director Julian Schnabel’s new Palestinian Arab girlfriend, Rula Jabreal. In a series of interviews following screening of “Miral” at the Toronto and Venice film festivals, Schnabel, who is Jewish, acknowledged that it was not the film’s intent to give a comprehensive background to the conflict or present a “balanced” view.

Further evidence that the film is, as Schnable himself hinted, aimed at promoting the Palestinian narrative of the conflict is the fact that Vanessa Redgrave is given a cameo. Redgrave is famous for denouncing the “Zionist hoodlums” during a 1978 Academy Awards acceptance speech. Despite Redgrave’s minor role, her presence in the film is being used as part of the marketing campaign.

Ugh. Redgrave - even in a cameo - is enough to discourage me from wasting time. Fortunately, the following writer for the National Post has understood why this is bad news. And not only that, he tells who is producing this junk:

Miral, the film he brought to the Toronto International Film Festival this week, scheduled for theatrical release in December by the Weinstein Company, is a piece of blatant propaganda that does all it can to denigrate Israel and arouse sympathy for radical Palestinians. It’s a chronicle of history without a trace of fairness: All Israelis are brutes; almost all Palestinians are angels and victims.

Besides informing about the anti-Israeli bent, he tells that Bob and Harvey Weinstein are the company behind this. What's wrong with them? Well, in 1998, they produced a movie called A Price Above Rubies, which was very hostile to Hasidic Jews, depicting males within the community as possessive, biased, among other absurd and insulting screeds. I remember that even Ed Koch, NYC's former mayor, disliked the movie. If the Weinsteins were going to associate themselves with that kind of badness, it isn't too surprising this time round, and only makes me lose all the more respect for them, as it does for Schnabel. Miramax, in retrospect, was no biggie as a studio, and I don't feel sorry for them for losing it. While as for their new company, I think it's best left unaided.