Apartheid Frenzy: Israel Destroyed Gazan Movie Theaters! (No, But Can You Guess Who Really Did?)

Can 500 Montreal artists all be wrong?
You bet!

Five hundred artists from Montreal have recently signed a statement “to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.” The Canadian artists blame Israel for intentionally harassing and bringing disaster to the peaceful Palestinian people during more than 60 years and fail to mention the word “terrorism” even once.

Their account of the historical events as they appear in the statement is to say the least distorted. One paragraph within the long list of “crimes” accuses Israel of deliberately oppressing the Palestinian cultural activity as follows:

“During the first and second intifadas, Israel invaded, ransacked, and even closed down cinemas, theatres and cultural centers in the occupied territories. These deliberate attempts to stifle the Palestinian cultural voice have failed and will continue to fail.”

In Apartheid Week - Hypocrisy at its Best, Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, writes about this knee-jerk accusation

This thesis has one little weakness. Not a single cinema house exists in the Gaza Strip and Hamas – NOT Israel – is responsible for "stifling the Palestinian cultural voice".

There was an article about this just last year--by Saud Abu Ramadan, a Palestinian reporter working for the Chinese newswire Xinhua:

The 57-year-old Gaza vendor Adnan Abu Beid was preoccupied with showing his watermelons, onions, fruits and vegetables at his little store in Sheja'eya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City to attract the purchasers to buy his merchandise.

But 20 years ago, Abu Beid's customers were completely different. He used to run al-Nasser, the most famous and biggest movie house in downtown Gaza city, which had shut down as the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, erupted against Israel in December 1987.

After Israel signed Oslo accords with the Palestinians, when the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was established after the Israeli army withdrew from Gaza city, al-Nasser movie house was reopened for a few months, but later it was burned and destroyed by angry Islamic Hamas demonstrators in 1995.

...He told Xinhua that his archives "are the only that remained after all the movie houses had either shut down, or been destroyed by Hamas activists during demonstrations in Gaza city in 1995."

According to the article, there used to be a number of movie theaters in Gaza:

By 1994, after the PNA was established, there were nine movie houses in the Gaza Strip, which is now ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement that seized control of the impoverished and densely populated enclave in June 2007, and routed secular President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces.

"I remember the movie houses of al-Nasser, al-Samer, al-Jalaa' and Amer in Gaza City, al-Khadra and al-Hamra in the city of Khan Younis and three other movie houses in Rafah town," said Abu Ahmed.

Famous Chinese and Indian films used to be shown in those movie houses, mainly in the 1970s. But most of the movie houses in Gaza have been closed down and turned into either places for people to throw rubbish or homes of stray dogs and cats. The deserted movie houses are full of mice and owls.

...Palestinians, who consider themselves religiously conservative, believe that the movie houses circulate traditions that contradict with the traditions of the Palestinian society.

However, Abu Beid said, "nowadays, there is ignorance of movie houses and the contribution they could make in developing our culture."

And no one is thinking of reopening these theaters--for good reason:

Radical Islamic groups have carried out in the last several months a series of attacks against internet cafes, coffee shops and other entertainment sites in the Gaza Strip, claiming that these places are used to spread immoral principles among the young Palestinian generations.

If these Canadian artists are so concerned about Palestinian culture, they should be talking to Hamas--I'm sure they be very responsive. Actually, these 500 Montreal artists have nothing to worry about, because Hamas is very well aware of movie houses and the "contribution they could make in developing our culture":

Ten days ago, Hamas produced its first two-hour film that talks about the life of one of its top militants who was killed in Gaza by Israeli soldiers in 1993. The scenario of the film, which is the first of its kind, was written by Hamas strongman in Gaza Mahmoud al-Zahar.

Good stuff: Cannes-quality material!

Actually, I spoke too soon. I followed a link from Halevi's article and found this article from Reuters about the movie:

The audience in the Gaza Strip clapped and cheered as the actor delivered the movie's most memorable line.

"To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God."

"Imad Aqel", which had its premiere on Saturday, is the first feature film produced by the Islamist Hamas movement and the title is the name of a Palestinian militant whom Israel held accountable for the deaths of 13 soldiers and settlers.

...Majed Jendeya, the movie's German-trained director, said he hoped to screen the film at the Cannes festival in France. The movie is Hamas's latest foray into the mass media -- it owns a satellite TV channel, a radio station and several newspapers.

How many of these 500 Montreal artists will not give a second thought to attending such a showing, to hear the "Palestinian cultural voice"?
These days, "Apartheid!" is not so much an accusation as it is the rallying cry for the worst and most ignorant in our society.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israel Apartheid and Gaza and Hamas.