Palestinian film-makers sign letter protesting at Hollywood’s ‘inhumanity and racism’

Dozens of Palestinian film-makers have signed an open letter protesting against Hollywood’s “inhumanity and racism” toward Palestinians and calling on “international colleagues in the film industry” to speak out.

The letter, published in Variety , was signed by notables including Elia Suleiman, director of Divine Intervention and It Must Be Heaven, Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now), and Farah Nabulsi, director of forthcoming feature film The Teacher.

The letter states: “We well understand the power of image and cinema, and for far too long we have been outraged at the inhumanity and racism shown by some in the western entertainment industry towards our people, even during this most difficult of times.” It adds: “We must still contend with and fiercely challenge the anti-Palestinian and generally anti-Arab racist propaganda that remains all too prevalent in western entertainment media.”

It ends: “This has to stop. Now.”

The protest takes its cue from attempts to have Bisan Owda’s documentary It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive removed from the news and documentary Emmy awards where it was nominated for outstanding hard news feature story (short form) over allegations of Owda’s ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a US-designated terrorist organisation. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Natas), the body that organises the Emmys, refused to cancel the nomination, saying it was “unable to corroborate … reports, nor has it been able, to date, to surface any evidence of … active involvement by Owda with the PFLP organisation”.

The letter thanked Natas for “standing up to pressure”, adding: “Trying to censor Bisan’s voice is only the latest repressive attempt to deny Palestinians the right to reclaim our narrative, share our history, and in this case bring attention to the atrocities our people are facing in the hopes that we can bring an end to them.”