Controversial nonsense
If you happen to live in Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon, you can forget about seeing The Da Vinci Code.
Observers are claiming that the film’s “controversial take on Christ’s life” will fan sectarian tension. Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt are especially strained after two deadly clashes in Alexandria, the country’s second largest city.
Youssef Sidhom, editor of a Christian newsweekly, thinks many Egyptians may view the film as “a conspiracy against Christianity.” But he opposes banning it, which he expects would provoke more curiosity — and a greater demand for pirated copies.
In Jordan, the Council of Churches has urged the government to ban the film because it “tarnishes the memory of Christian and Islamic figures” and “contradicts the truth as written in the Bible and the Quran about Jesus.”
Moustafa Darwish, who worked as a film critic and directed government censorship in the 1960s, explains the lines of reasoning weighing against “Da Vinci” opening in Egypt: “One is that the film will be sent here after the agents are sure it will be approved by the censors. Two, the producers decided not to send it here because the agent advised that it could be banned. … Basically, it is self-censorship.”
(via The Melon Farmers)
Monday 15 May 2006 | Paul | Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon
