Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:53 pm Post subject: The Arab Response to ‘The Passion of the Christ’
President Arafat: Passion of the Christ 'Impressive'
Yasser Arafat watched Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on Saturday, and afterward a top aide compared Jesus' pain during crucifixion to the suffering of Palestinians in the conflict with Israel.
Nabil Abu Rudeneh, one of Arafat's closest advisers, watched the film along with the veteran Palestinian leader and a group of American and European Christians and Palestinian Muslim clerics.
"The Palestinians are still daily being exposed to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion," Abu Rudeneh said in a statement after he viewed the movie.
Arafat, who watched the film on a small TV set in his Ramallah office, said the movie was "historic and impressive."
‘The Passion of the Christ’ a hit in Beirut, Damascus
Mel Gibson's controversial film drawing sizeable audience in Syrian, Lebanese capitals.
By Henri Mamarbachi - BEIRUT
Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ" is drawing a sizeable if unexceptional audience here while apparently touching an emotional nerve in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
"Coming out of the theater ... I saw a lot of people in tears," reported Fayez Wehbe, who saw the film - with Arabic sub-titles - in Damascus.
Certain sequences are in Aramaic, the language that was dominant in the Holy Land at the time of Christ and which can still be heard in certain towns in Syria, notably Maalula and Saadnaya near Damascus.
"Some members of the audience could not conceal their astonishment on hearing some expressions - such as Ya Illah (My God) - that are close to Arabic," said Wehbe.
Added another Syrian cinema-goer: "The fact that this film is being shown in the current Middle East context, which opposes Israel and the Arabs, explains part of its success."
Given its popularity in Damascus a fourth showing has been added to the three that had been initially offered, with people often buying tickets in the morning to be sure of getting a place.
Elsewhere in the Arab world, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat saw the film at his headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank and pronounced it "moving."
"The Passion of the Christ" will also be shown in Cairo, starting March 31, and has been available to movie goers in the Gulf state of Qatar since last Sunday.
"We submitted 'The Passion of the Christ' to the censorship committee, which had no objection to its screening" in Qatar, said Abdul Rahman Mohsen, the director general of a private Qatari cinema company.
The committee usually censors scenes or images depicting prophets from the holy books.
The film is being shown three times a day in a cinema in Doha and will be screened for at least one month, Mohsen said.
Three other Gulf states are currently still reviewing the film, he said.
The movie will be shown to the public in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) beginning March 31 after having been given the green light by the ministry of culture and information, the UAE's Gulf News reported Sunday.
In Saudi Arabia, where expression of any religion other than Islam is forbidden, pirated copies of the film on DVD have been “selling like hotcakes” on the black market, being bought from street vendors who had underestimated the demand for the illegal versions of the controversial film, according to Arab News. “My customers don’t like subtitled movies, but they are buying this one,” an anonymous vendor representative stated.
Among Middle Eastern leaders who have seen the film, Yasser Arafat commented that the drama was “historic and impressive”, though one of his closest aides, Nabil Abu Rudeneh, related his personal thoughts that, “The Palestinians are still daily exposed to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion.”
Three other Gulf states are still reviewing the film for possible release.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in
