By Jason Apuzzo. Unhappy tidings as we approach Christmas:
• Director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced in Iran to 6 years in prison, and a 20 year ban on filmmaking or traveling abroad.
• Muslim actress Afshan Azad, a 22 year old UK star of the many Harry Potter films, was beaten and threatened with death by her family after she met a young man who was not a Muslim.
• One of the recently leaked WikiLeaks cables reveals that diplomats from 14 Arab states voted to ban Steven Spielberg’s films in response to his $1 million donation to Israel during Israel’s 2006 confrontation with Lebanon. (As a side note, the Arab League also apparently didn’t like the depiction of Arabs in Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
I’m pressed for time, and would otherwise like to say more about all this, but let me confine my remarks to these: that it is axiomatic, in my opinion, that there will be no peace in certain parts of this world until there is also freedom. In a time of year when thoughts of peace are on everyone’s minds, and justly so, we should never forget that freedom is the vital force that nurtures peace.
Final note: on the Panahi front, here is his Facebook page, and here is an on-line petition demanding the lifting of his sentence.
Posted on December 21st, 2010 at 2:28pm.