MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) – Miami Beach Mayor Stephen Miner has retracted his proposal to end the lease of a small theatre that showed the Oscar-winning film “No Other Lands.”
Directed by a group of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, the film records the destruction of the Palestinian community on the West Bank by Israeli forces.
O Cinema, an independent theatre at Miami Beach’s historic city hall, receives some funds from the city that the mayor also threatened to pull it.
According to the Associated Press, Meiner wrote to theater CEO Vivian Marthell on March 7 before its first screening.
Although Marcel initially agreed not to show “other lands,” she said she had reversed the course after consulting with other O Cinema committees and considering the impact on freedom of speech.
The mayor’s proposal sparked a major backlash from many people in Miami Beach and the international filmmaking community.
Over 700 people have signed open letters to the city, urging committee members to reject the proposal.
“We as filmmakers bring about critical discussions on films, but your decision to punish films to screen for ‘other lands’ is an attack on freedom of expression, an artist’s right to tell their stories, and a violation of the first amendment,” the letter said.
One of the film’s directors, Yubal Abraham, won X, criticized the mayor using anti-Semitism accusations, saying, “The Palestinians and Israelis proudly oppose and together oppose the occupation and apartheid.”
“To ban a film just makes people more determined to see it,” Abraham wrote.
The vote for Meiner’s proposal was scheduled to take place Wednesday, but the mayor retracted it after speakers at the meeting overwhelmingly opposed the action.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
