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Follow Us on TwitterIsraeli Culture Minister storms out of film, calls it too pro-Palestinian 29May11 May 30, 2011
Haaretz - 29 May 2011
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat ,who attended the opening of a film festival in Israel’s south, left before the screening began, claiming the film presents a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ignores the suffering of the residents of the south of Israel.
The film, which opened Sapir College’s Cinema South Fillm Festival, features monologues based on testimonies by Palestinians and Israel soldiers.
“Many people urged me to boycott the festival, but it was important for me to come here,” Livnat said. She added she supports freedom of expression, yet in this case, “the film about to be screened offers a one-sided and distorted view that is far from resembling reality.”
Some members of the audience called for Livnat to stay and watch the movie in its entirety, while others began booing.
Livnat defended her stance, saying that “the film does not show the testimonies of terror victims in Israel, the exploding buses, the children of Sderot who suffer for years from rockets.”
Livnat mentioned the success of another Israeli film, Joseph Cedar’s “Hearat Shulayim” which won an award for best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. “Even though the film doesn’t deal with wars but with human relationships and the world of Jewish tradition,” said Livnat, “it receives international recognition and honors its creators and Israel.”
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