A proposal introduced last week to evict a Miami Beach, Fla., cinema for its screening of the controversial Academy Award-winning documentary “No Other Land” was withdrawn on Wednesday following public backlash and threats of legal action by the theater.
The eviction proposal against O Cinema, introduced by Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner on March 13, sought to remove the theater from a city-owned building and revoke its city funding.
Meiner, who is Jewish, said at a public hearing on the matter that he initially brought the proposal “as a public safety measure” due to concerns about rising antisemitism. (The state recently introduced new bills to bolster its anti-BDS laws).
“I legitimately viewed this as a public safety threat,” the mayor said, according to the Miami Herald. (JNS also sought comment from Meiner).
The withdrawal decision came after five of Meiner’s colleagues opposed the proposal, the Herald reported, with only one commissioner expressing support.
“The community has spoken clearly today. They will not tolerate censorship of the arts,” Miriam Haskell, a lawyer representing O Cinema, said. “We will remain vigilant against future retaliation against O Cinema and other cultural institutions for choosing to portray or not portray a particular viewpoint.”
“This is a win for free speech,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote, commending the organization’s Florida chapter for its advocacy. “The government does not get to dictate what perspectives can and cannot be heard.”
“No Other Land” was co-directed by an Israeli-Palestinian collective showing Palestinian activists protecting their homes from demolition by the Israeli military, and won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards. It has been met with controversy and was released independently as the film did not find distribution in the United States.
Meir Deutsch, director-general of the Israeli NGO Regavim, said that the film is “propaganda that serves the false Palestinian narrative and seeks to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the international arena.”
