More Than 65 Palestinian Filmmakers, Including Hany Abu Assad and Elia Suleiman, Sign Letter Accusing Hollywood of ‘Dehumanizing’ Palestinians (EXCLUSIVE)

I stand with each and every one of you, my fellow Palestinian filmmakers and artists. Our lives, our stories, and our homeland have been subjected to an unimaginable horror for far too long. The genocide, racism, censorship, and erasure that we face are not only unspeakable but also unacceptable.


Approximately 70 Palestinian filmmakers, including two-time Oscar nominee Hany Abu Assad and renowned director Elia Suleiman, penned a firm letter criticizing Hollywood for portraying Palestinians as inhuman on screen for many years. They believe this representation has played a role in allowing the ongoing suffering in Gaza to continue.

The letter, endorsed by acclaimed winners such as Michel Khleifi, Mai Masri, Najwa Najjar, Farah Nabulsi, along with 22 other directors who collaborated on the short film “From Ground Zero,” represents Palestine’s entry for the Oscars. It further voices indignation and refers to what it perceives as the “cruelty and racism exhibited by certain figures in the Western entertainment industry towards our community, particularly during these challenging times.”

This letter signifies the initial joint endeavor of filmmakers from Palestine since the tragic incidents on October 7, when Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza, was responsible for the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis and the capture of more than 250 hostages. These events have been followed by retaliatory actions from Israel, resulting in the loss of more than 40,000 Palestinian lives (as per the Palestinian Health Authority) and a humanitarian crisis within the territory.

Despite its fierce criticism of Hollywood, the letter does thank the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for “standing up to pressure and insisting on freedom of expression,” by refusing attempts to disqualify a Gaza-focused documentary from the 2024 Emmy nominations.

The moving documentary “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive,” produced by Palestinian journalist, activist, and filmmaker Bisan Owda, detailing her family’s escape from bombardment in their home by Israel, has been nominated for the News and Documentary Emmys in the category of Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Short Form. However, this nomination has faced criticism from a U.S.-based pro-Israel organization, who have requested its withdrawal. A letter signed by celebrities such as Debra Messing, Sherry Lansing, Rick Rosen, and Haim Saba alleges that Owda has connections to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group labeled as terrorist by the U.S. government.

In response, the president of NATAS, Adam Sharp, stated that they could not verify the claims against Owda and had found no reason to reverse the decision made by the independent journalists who initially reviewed the content. Therefore, they will not be withdrawing Owda’s nomination.

See the letter by the Palestinian filmmakers list of signatures below:

We, Palestinian filmmakers, express our gratitude to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) for their courageous stance in defense of free speech. By upholding Bisan Owda’s 2024 News and Documentary Emmy nomination for her documentary “It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive,” they have demonstrated a strong commitment to artistic expression and individual voices.

This movie is narrated by the acclaimed and motivational 25-year-old Palestinian journalist, Bisan Owda, who bravely presents global audiences with accounts and tales about the courage, perseverance, and endurance of typical Palestinian families amidst Israel’s continuous, live-streamed atrocities in the occupied Gaza Strip.

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. 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. 

Through our movies, we strive to offer diverse storylines, portrayals, and visuals as a means to challenge the longstanding, inhuman portrayal of Palestinians as worthless and disposable, which has been used to legitimize the atrocities committed against them for years. However, it seems unfair that we are constantly forced to fight back when our art is subjected to harsh censorship, not because of its quality or originality, but simply due to our identity.

We wholeheartedly welcomed the nomination of Bisan Owda’s film for an Emmy as an indication that, after so many years of Israel’s apartheid and settler-colonial rule over the Palestinian people, the relentless, decades-old dehumanization of Palestinians on small and big screens in the U.S., in Hollywood in particular, was beginning to give way to a more ethical stance. The censorship attempt against the film, though, was a reality check of sorts. 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.  

Although we are deeply concerned at how this dehumanization is a danger to our very existence as Palestinians, we are cognizant of how it also puts many racialized communities around the world, including in the West, at risk of a similar fate as the “might makes right” credo prevails. 

As a movie enthusiast, I appeal to my fellow visionaries across the globe in the film industry: Let us unite our voices against the atrocities of genocide and the intolerance that fuels it. Together, we should strive tirelessly to halt and eradicate any involvement in this abhorrent tragedy. We must also resist collaborating with production houses that are deeply entrenched in the dehumanization of Palestinians or the whitewashing and justification of Israel’s actions against us.

This has to stop. Now.

Signed:

  1. Michel Khleifi
  2. Mai Masri
  3. Hany Abu Assad
  4. Najwa Najjar
  5. Elia Suleiman
  6. Rashid Masharawi
  7. Farah Nabulsi
  8. Mohammad Bakri
  9. Maha Haj
  10. Mahdi Fleifel
  11. Raed Andoni
  12. Kamal Aljafari
  13. Saleh Bakri
  14. Mohanad Yaqubi
  15. Tarzan Nasser
  16. Arab Nasser
  17. Ossama Bawardi
  18. Rakan Mayasi
  19. Khadija Habashneh
  20. Leila Sansour
  21. Khaled Jarrar
  22. Rula Nasser
  23. May Odeh
  24. Adam Bakri
  25. Iyad Alasttal
  26. Amer Shomali
  27. Carol Mansour
  28. Muna Khalidi
  29. Mohamed Jabaly
  30. Salim abu Jabal
  31. Suha Arraf
  32. Firas Khoury
  33. Randa Nassar
  34. Yasmine Al Massri
  35. Wisam Al Jafari
  36. Ismael El Habbash
  37. Muayad Alayan
  38. Sawsan Asfari
  39. Kamel el Basha
  40. Rozeen Bisharat
  41. Nadia Eliewat
  42. Ward Kayyal
  43. Maryse Gargour
  44. Amer Hlehel
  45. Ziad Bakri
  46. Aws Al-Banna*
  47. Ahmed Al-Danf*
  48. Basil Al-Maqousi*
  49. Mustafa Al-Nabih*
  50. Muhammad Alshareef*
  51. Ala’a Ayob*
  52. Bashar Al-Balbeisi*
  53. Alaa Damo*
  54. Hana Awad*
  55. Ahmad Hassouna*
  56. Mustafa Kallab*
  57. Kareem Satoum*
  58. Mahdi Karirah*
  59. Rabab Khamees*
  60. Khamees Masharawi*
  61. Wissam Moussa*
  62. Tamer Najm*
  63. Nidaa Abu Hasna*
  64. Nidal Damo*
  65. Reema Mahmoud*
  66. E’temad Weshah*
  67. Islam Al Zrieai*

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2024-08-28 18:21