Several of Hollywood's biggest names, including Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem, are now coming out with public support of Julian Schnabel's pro-Palestinian controversial new film "Miral."
An ad was released in the Los Angeles Times with academics and actors praising the film for its 'honesty, beauty, and tackling of the greater political conflict.'
The film revolves around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in and is based on the "semi-autobiographical" book by Rula Jebreal. Miral chronicles the story of an orphaned Palestinian girl who finds herself amidst a raging political conflict once she leaves her safe orphanage. The orphanage was established by Hind al-Husseini, a scion of the infamous Haj Amin al-Husseini, who planned to deport all the Jews in the Land of Israel to concentration camps after the hoped-for Nazi invasion. Al-Husseini starts the orphanage with 55 children who escaped the "massacre" at Deir Yassin, and before long there are 2,000. Along the way, there are attacks and provocations by Israelis, and eventually, the title character grows up and teaches in a refugee camp, where she falls in love with a terrorist.
Various Jewish groups have protested against the film, pointing out that it romanticizes the notion of suicide bombers and the Intifada, and asked the UN not to show it at a recent screening. AJC Executive Director David Harris called the film a propaganda piece that "will only serve to reinforce the already widespread view that Israel simply cannot expect fair treatment in the UN."
The UN showed it anyway.
Other Jewish groups seem to have no problem with the film. It boasts of a Jewish producer, Julian Schnabel, (whose mother was the head of Haddassah in 1948) and Jewish distributors, (the film is being distributed the Weinstein Company, the independent studio of Harvey and Bob Weinstein.)
In the LA times advertisement, Johnny Depp is quoted saying: "Julian Schnabel's film is a unique and courageous glimpse into one woman's painful journey. It is an epic poem teetering on the edge of a dagger. See it and decide for yourself."
Oscar winner Javier Bardem's quote is also in the ad, "THE BEAUTY of Julian Schnabel, he creates art that inspires discussion for World leaders and also touches the rest of us mere mortals on a very HUMAN and primitive level."
Upon receiving criticism from Jewish and pro-Israel groups, Schnabel responded by saying that creating the film does not conflict with his "love for Israel." In a press release, he statses: "I love the State of Israel. I believe in it, and my film is about preserving it, not hurting it. Understanding is part of the Jewish way and Jewish people are supposed to be good listeners. But, if we don't listen to the other side, we can never have peace."
Schnabel is currently dating Rula Jebreal, the author of Miral.
