The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Florida chapter (CAIR-FL) today condemned an attempt by the mayor of Miami Beach to shut down a movie theatre that showed the Oscar-winning Palestinian documentary No Other Land.
O Cinema, an arthouse theatre, showed the documentary after having initially pulled it due to a letter denouncing the film sent by Mayor Steven Meier. Meier announced a proposal to terminate the cinema’s lease and discontinue around $40,000 in grant funding on Tuesday.
SEE: Florida Theater Faces Closure for Showing Palestinian Film ‘No Other Land’ – Newsweek
In a statement, CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Ruiz said:
“Mayor Steven Meiner fails to unite Miami Beach residents, visitors, or anyone who does not subscribe to his blind support for the genocidal Israeli government. His complete disregard for First Amendment rights and equal protection under the law is evident in this open act of censorship and discrimination. Apparently, Mayor Meier believes he is governing an Israeli city, where the censorship and oppression of Palestinian voices are the norm. Let us remind him that he swore to defend the U.S. Constitution. The freedoms he seeks to suppress are enshrined in the First Amendment and have cost many Americans their blood, sweat, and tears. His shameful actions cannot erase that.”
CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“Mayor Meier’s attempt to punish a movie theatre for showing a documentary critical of a foreign government is an un-American and unconstitutional attack on free speech and the humanity of Palestinians. The mayor’s attempt to censor the reality of the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing in the West Bank is also deeply immoral and racist. We urge the Miami Beach city government to reject this un-American act of censorship.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com