Lebanon censors "Jewish" and "Zionist" books, films

From The Toronto Star:

At the entrance to the Beirut office of the March organization, there is a well-stocked bookshelf. Its contents include notables such as Of Mice and Men, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Da Vinci Code, Sophie’s Choice and the slightly less classy Little Book of Big Penis.

Crack the covers and you’ll realize this isn’t any ordinary book collection. The pages are all blank. The Lebanese government has banned them. The reasons range from homosexual references and politics to religion and vague connection to things Jewish.

On an adjacent shelf sits an eclectic CD collection of banned music, including Frank Sinatra (Zionist tendencies), Lady Gaga (offensive to Christianity), The Buddha Bar Compilation (religion) and Bad Religion (offensive name).

March, a Lebanese NGO and the owner of this collection, has been documenting these obscure and arbitrary censorship practices in Lebanon via its Virtual Museum of Censorship since the group was founded in 2011.
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While censorship decisions are bizarre enough, the methods of censorship can be even more absurd.

In some cases, material that is banned in one medium can be allowed in another. For example, while a movie may be banned in cinemas it could be approved on DVD.
In the Virgin Megastore in downtown Beirut, some box sets have a sticker warning customers of “missing items that were confiscated by general security for censorship reasons.”

Others are distinguished by what is known locally as “black marker” censorship: the name and title are simply blacked out with a marker. You can listen to the song, you just can’t read the title or artist name.

One reason for censorship is the 1955 Lebanese Anti-Israeli Boycott law, which outlaws any material related to the State of Israel. Although the law targets Israel, rather than Jews, it has been interpreted broadly by some censors. This has resulted in decisions to ban some movies in which Jewish actors appear while allowing others, and the random black markering of any name that has a Jewish ring to it.

The classic Of Mice and Men was recently banned when an officer thought the name John Steinbeck sounded Jewish, according to the Daily Star newspaper. After discovering he wasn’t Jewish, the ban was lifted.

The Israeli factor also extends to actors, composers or artists who, while not being Jewish, have had some connection to Israel. All movies featuring Jane Fonda (banned since visiting Israel in 1982), Elizabeth Taylor (who converted to Judaism) or the music of Frank Sinatra are banned because they have been labelled in Lebanon as supporters of the Israeli state.

The New York Times reported that Francis Ford Coppola was refused entry by airport security in 2009 after attempting to fly his private jet to Lebanon for the opening of the Beirut Film Festival. The reason? Part of the engine was made in Israel. He was forced to land in Damascus and travel overland.

The original article was written a month ago, and has some amazing examples of censored materials:

 1. "Puss in Boots" – Censored – Reason: Obscene and immoral. The name "Puss in Boots" was changed to "Cat in Boots" for Lebanese audiences / 2. Nirvana – Banned – Reason: witchcraft, Satanic. While every Nirvana album has been banned in Lebanon, the Nirvana best-of collection strangely passed inspection. / 3. "Nutty Professor" – Seized during a security services raid on the Beirut Virgin Megastore along with numerous other movies because the films "undermined religions, contravened good morals and Israeli boycott laws, or included texts inciting young people to commit suicide". / 4. "The Nanny" – Banned – Reason: Jewish.

 1. "Will it pass or won’t it?" A play by March about censorship in Lebanon – Banned – Reason: Does not portray reality and bad artistic quality. That bad artist quality was celebrated in the UK when the play was nominated for a Freedom of Expression award. / 2. Kanye West – Live performance banned – Reason: This image that appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stone. / 3. Beirut Rock festival – Banned – Reason: Gothic people will spread their death culture and they will spread dark thoughts. / 4. Graffiti artist Yazan Halwani – Two works censored – Reason: Immoral. Two faces were painted over at the order of general security. One, the painting of a homeless man named Ali, who died on a cold winters night in the street where the image was painted, was to ensure Ali and others like him were not forgotten.

 1. TIME magazine – Nov 1973 edition suspended – Reason: The article titled ‘Arabs: The Forgotten Palestinians’ incites sectarianism. / 2. Wolf of Wall Street – Censored - Two scenes, deemed inappropriate by the General Security were cut to make the movie shorter as "Lebanese audiences do not have the attention span for a three hour movie.” / 3. The West Wing – Banned – Anti-Arab. / 4. Brokeback Mountain – Censored – Reason: Homosexuality. While the movie itself was not banned, scenes depicting homosexuality were removed.

 1. "Marilyn, The Premiere Collection" – Items Confiscated – Reason: homosexuality/ 2. Charlie Chaplin – Items confiscated – Reason: anti-Nazi content / 3. Robert Redford Collection – Items confiscated – Reason: Jewish/ 4.Various music compilations, victims of the black marker

1. 3rd Rock from the Sun – Items confiscated – Reason: Jewish / 2. Ben Hur - Banned – Reason: Jewish / 3. You don’t mess with the Zohan - Banned – Reason: Israeli / 4. Clockwork Orange – Banned – Reason: Despite the movie's controversial glorification of rape and violence it was banned solely for featuring Jewish actress Mariam Karlin.