It is said that any resemblance between Ridley Scott's new biblical epic and the Bible story is purely coincidental - but the suggestion that the Jews built the pyramids is too much for Arab states to take, among other things. (I wonder what Arab states would have said about the Cecil B de Mille version?). The Guardian reports:
A scene from Exodus: Gods and Kings
Egypt has banned the Hollywood biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, citing historical inaccuracies, the culture minister said on Friday. The decision comes a day after a similar move by Morocco.
The film, directed by Ridley Scott
and starring Christian Bale, relates how Moses helped Israelite slaves
flee persecution in Egypt under the Pharaoh Ramses by parting the Red
Sea to let them cross safely. The Egyptian culture minister, Gaber
Asfour, said the film was rife with mistakes, including an apparent
claim that “Moses and the Jews built the pyramids”.
“This totally contradicts proven historical facts,” Asfour said.
“It is a Zionist film,” he said. “It gives a Zionist view of history
and contains historical inaccuracies and that’s why we have decided to
ban it.”
The ban was decided by a committee comprising the head of the supreme
council for culture, Mohammed Afifi, the head of the censorship
committee and two history professors, Asfour said.
Afifi said he took issue with the scene showing the parting of the
Red Sea in which Moses – a prophet revered by Jews, Christians and
Muslims alike – is seen holding a “sword” like a warrior, instead of a
“stick”. Furthermore, he said, the parting of the Red Sea was explained
in the movie as a “tidal phenomenon” rather than a divine miracle.
Morocco
has also banned the film, despite it having been approved by the
state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre, media reported on Thursday, quoting
theatre managers. Hassan Belkady, who runs Cinema Rif in Casablanca,
told media24 news website that he had been threatened with the closure
of his business if he ignored the ban.
“They phoned and threatened they would shut down the theatre if I did not take the film off the schedule,” Belkady said.
Read article in full
UAE also bans film (EoZ)
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