"Miral" Asks Questions The Israel Lobby Does Not Want You to Hear by James M. Wall |
In an early scene from the new motion picture Miral, the school principal Hind Husseini, tells a group of teenage Palestinian girls that "an uprising some people call an intifada has started". Miral whispers to a student next to her: "It means 'stand up straight'" Which is precisely what Miral does in this film now under attack from leading organizations in the Israel Lobby. Miral's mother is dead. Her father enrolls her in Jerusalem's Dar El Tifel, a school and an orphanage begun and run by Hind Husseini, a cousin of Feisal Husseini, and a member of a prominent Palestinian family. The film is based on an autobiographical novel written by Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian journalist. Miral had its official US opening at the United Nations auditorium March 14. (It had earlier been shown in film festivals around the world). Prior to the UN screening, the AJC hit the film with tactics all too familiar to anyone or any group which schedules an event, film, or discussion that does not meet the AJC seal of approval. An American Jewish Committee press release issued before the screening quoted AJC Director David Harris, who complained that "the Israeli Mission to the UN was not even given the minimal courtesy of being consulted in advance about the wisdom of showing such a film". (To continue reading, click here.) +++ |
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