Muhammad Abdullah

The presentation of 6 Arab films at an Israeli festival in occupied Jerusalem raised the discontent of the film directors, as their films are shown at the festival without reference to them or their approval.

Yesterday, Monday, in Jerusalem, the film "Sofa in Tunisia" by Tunisian director Manal Al-Ubaidi was presented as part of six Arab films that will be shown during the "Middle East Cinema" festival, which was announced by the "Israel Speaking Arabic" page on social media platforms.

Al-Obaidi's film will follow the movie "Sofia" by Moroccan director Maryam Benembark, "The Mummy" by the late Egyptian director Shadi Abdel Salam, "I am still hiding to smoke" by Moroccan director Rehana, and "Talking about the trees" by Sudanese director Suhaib Qassem Al-Bari, and "The Case No. 23 "by Lebanese director Ziad Douiri.

The page affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The festival aims to show the best cinematic works in the Middle East to the Israeli public, and to shed light on civilization, culture and people in the Arab countries and the issues that concern them, in an effort to create a cultural bridge with the aim of expanding the relationship between Israeli society and neighboring Middle Eastern societies." .

Compulsory normalization
It appears from the choices of the "Simatic Jerusalem" Center - which displays the six Arab films for the purpose of creating a "cultural bridge" - that its bridge is built by one without the permission or approval of the other party, the Sudanese director Suhaib Al-Bari announced via his Facebook account that "this participation was made Without his knowledge and without his approval, and it is not known yet who gave these bodies approval of these offers. "

He clarified in his statement that "And those involved in the film are members of the film group (Manar Al-Helou, Ibrahim Shaddad, Suleiman Muhammad Ibrahim, Al-Tayyib Mahdi, Hana Suleiman) agree on our refusal to participate in our film in this event that takes place under the auspices of an apartheid regime led by a right-wing extremist government that violates the daily right The Palestinian people in a decent life on their occupied land. "

The Sudanese director continued, "We base our position on our principled human and political solidarity with the struggles of all oppressed peoples who are under oppression and occupation everywhere and every time, and the right of peoples to self-determination. We know and know the whole world how much daily injustice is occurring on the Palestinians, so how do we participate with whom Persecuting them in covering their voice and talking to him in their absence? "

Do not approach violations
For its part, the "Tunisian Coordination for Joint Action for Palestine" sent an open letter to the director Manal Al-Obeidi "not to allow your art to be an entry point for normalization with the system of racial discrimination and Zionist terrorism!", And the coordination considered in its statement that this festival comes as one of the manifestations of "normalization with the entity Zionist. "

The signatories of the message said that the festival "comes after Trump announced his miserable deal to liquidate the Palestinian right, and falls within the despicable attempts registered recently in Tunisia and the rest of the Arab countries to impose the content of this deal."

The signatories of the letter threatened to boycott the movie when it was shown in Tunisia if you did not ask Manal Al-Ubaidi to cancel the Israeli offer. The message added, "We know that your movie is French, and that the international distribution company that owns the distribution rights agreed to share it in the occupied territories, but we also know that the rights of The moral authority of the author is reserved in French intellectual property law and inalienable, therefore, if you wish you can request to cancel this offer, which will obviate us from the call to boycott it when it is offered soon in Tunisia.

Actor Majd Mastourah, one of the film's heroes, commented inside the statement, "If it depends on me, I will boycott this propaganda festival under the pretext of" rapprochement between peoples "in a country that kills the Palestinian people and violates most basic human rights for decades."

This is in line with the statement of the Sudanese director Qassem Al-Bari, as he wrote, "It is not from the supervisor of artists at any time that the violators of life use their art, for the purpose of the illusion that everything is fine, while major crimes continue."

It is mentioned that the movie "Sofia" by Moroccan director Maryam Benembark was previously included by the management of the "Haifa Film Festival" organized by the Zionist entity in its 2018 session, but Benembark called for his immediate withdrawal from the festival program, and then confirmed that it was included without reference to it.