Schnabel’s New Movie Is Boycotted by American Jewish Committee

Frieda Pinto Stars in Julian Schnabels Miral

Brooklyn-born Jew Julian Schnabel finds himself on the orthodox firing line after having made a new movie, Miral, that tells the story of his real-life Palestinian girlfriend Rula Jebrea. It is a movie made by a Jew, told “from the Palestinian point-of-view,” Schnabel told Bill Maher April 1st.

Schnabel said that when he met Rula Jebrea, she introduced herself as being from Israel. Miral the movie premiered at Toronto International Film Festival last September and had a March 14 U.S. premiere at the U.N. General Assembly, which was boycotted by the American Jewish Committee. Schnabel pointed out that the AJC is highly opposed to the film despite his belief that no members have seen it. AJC chairman David Harris, said the movie depicted Israel “in a highly negative light” and is “blatantly one-sided.”

“Every film is one-sided,” Schnabel responded.

“Situation-specific “interests” and “values”are at work everywhere these days, the artist-filmmaker contended on Bill Mahers show, saying Libya gets different treatment than Palestine. Clearly Schnabel is mining the talking points as he also told the Screening Room, I love the state of Israel,” he said, and has repeated that his Jewish Americanness is key to his own filmmaking identity.

The movie is having a limited theatrical screening in the U.S.which began March 25th. Indian actress Frieda Pinto stars.