Miral: a Movie about Israel/Palestine Causes Controversy

Over the last few days, several pro Israel groups, and pro Palestinian groups have contacted the Free Muslims Coalition to support or oppose a new movie called Miral.

On March 15, 2011, the U.N. General Assembly hosted Julian Schnabel's film, "Miral" about a young Palestinian girl growing up in East Jerusalem. Miral is the first American movie about Israel-Palestine told from the perspective of Palestinian women.

Following the screening, journalist Dan Rather moderated a panel discussion on the movie where he called the film "moving" and then asked Schnabel, why a devout Jew would make a film about the difficult lives of Palestinians in Israel.

Schnabel noted that as a Jewish man, "I love the state of Israel" but "I think that if you listen to the other side there might be a chance of making peace.

The movie has caused enormous controversy. Some Jewish groups have called it anti-Israel and anti Semitic while other groups have supported it for depicting the reality of Palestinians living in Jerusalem without equality or citizenship.

The biggest critics of the movie have been the Israeli government, AJC and ADL. While the biggest supporters of the movie have been Jewish Voices for Peace, MPAC, J Street, AAPER, and AJJP.

"Miral" has been released in NY and Los Angeles, by The Weinstein Company. The Free Muslims Coalition has not had the benefit of seeing the movie to pass judgment and so we ask those who are able to see the movie to post a critique of the movie on the Free Muslim website at: http://www.freemuslims.org/blog/?id=123

To see a Free Synopsis of the movie, visit: http://miralmovie.com.

For Tickets contact the Weinstein Company on 212.845.8650 or email at [email protected]

If you have questions contact Kamal Nawash of the Free Muslims at 202-776-7190, [email protected]; www.freemuslims.org.