London, Europe Brief News – Netflix has come under pressures after it decided to broadcast a Jordanian film depicting the ethnic cleansing of Palestine during the 1948 catastrophe, or Nakba.
The Jordanian film “Farha,” released this week on Netflix, tells the story of an individual tragedy that took place during the 1948 war — where Palestinians, who remember the event as the Nakba, were expelled from their homes by the hundreds of thousands.
Netflix has stuck by its decision to carry the film on its streaming platform. The film became available to view on Thursday.
However, many Netflix followers have complained of not finding the film on the platform as it faced tight restrictions. This came after Israeli politicians launched a fierce campaign to cancel its airing.
Avigdor Lieberman, a right-winger who is the outgoing Israeli finance minister, suggested that state funding should be withdrawn from a theatre in Jaffa that plans to show the film.
Israel’s culture minister, Chili Tropper, said Farha showed “lies and libels”. He further considered the plans by Al-Saraya, the Jaffa theatre that plans to screen it, “a disgrace”.
“I call on the theatre’s management to change their decision to screen the film,” the minister added.
Sallam and the film’s producers, Deema Azar and Ayah Jardaneh, released a statement following the ministers’ attack on their film, criticising what they called “the accusations to discredit Farha”.
“The film’s writer/director, Darin J. Sallam, had an urge to tell his humane and personal story that she carried with her since her childhood and to share it with the world,” the statement said.
