Miami Beach's mayor has dropped an effort to evict and defund an arts cinema after strong opposition from the community and other elected officials. Mayor Steven Meiner introduced the resolution to the City Commission after the theater refused to cancel screenings of a controversial documentary.
The film, "No Other Land" tells the story of a Palestinian town in the West Bank that was bulldozed by the Israeli government for use as a military training zone. It won an Academy Award for best documentary. But Miami Beach's mayor called it "hateful propaganda" and objected to its screening at an arts theater that leases space in a city-owned building.
The theater, O Cinema at first agreed to cancel screenings of the film, but quickly reversed course. The theater added showings which have sold out. Mayor Meiner drew up a proposal to cancel the theater's lease and to withdraw some $40-thousand in city funding.
At a city commission meeting in Miami Beach Wednesday, dozens of people spoke out in support of the film and O Cinema. Mayor Meiner said he watched the documentary and believed it contained antisemitic propaganda that shouldn't be shown on city-owned property.
Brandon Heinblum, who is Jewish and a former employee at the cinema said, "It's not propaganda and it's certainly not antisemitic to portray it. They are documented realities. Silencing them does not make them untrue."
A few community members spoke in support of the mayor's proposal to evict the cinema, as did the Consul General of Israel in Miami, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky. But a majority on the seven-member commission said they would not support the resolution. City commissioner Alex Fernandez said, "The first amendment is clear. Government must never censor artistic expression, even when it is controversial or deeply offensive."
Given the opposition, Mayor Meiner agreed to withdraw the measure. He said a second resolution, one that would "encourage" O Cinema to show films that "highlight a fair and balanced viewpoint of the current war" would be deferred to a later meeting.
Board members and staff of O Cinema welcomed the city commission's action today but said they would closely watch the commission's deliberations. Kareem Tabsch, co-founder and chair of O Cinema board of directors said, "We are curious to hear what ideas the commission might have, if that resolution moves forward, but the independence of our curatorial voice is an extension of our free speech."
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