Moslem leaders lobby to ban Russell's film
Moslem leaders lobby to ban Russell's film
JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leaders here have begun discussing preparations to oppose the local screening of a newly-released Hollywood production Executive Decision which their counterparts in Malaysia and the United States say insult their religion.
Although the film has not yet reached Indonesia, the protests by Moslem leaders in the United States and Malaysia were the subject of discussion among members of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) last week.
The thriller, starring Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal, tells of an American elite team foiling the plan of a ruthless terrorist organization to bomb Washington D.C. by forcing a hijacked Boeing-747, which is carrying 400 passengers as well as lethal explosives, to the U.S. capital.
American and Malaysian Moslem leaders say the film further strengthens the stereotype of Moslems as terrorists. The hijackers in the film are led by a character named Nagi Hassan.
According to those who have seen the film in Malaysia, some of the hijackers have Islamic attributes, including one who wears a ring bearing an inscription of Allah.
"We have already talked about the film in the council," Zainuddin, the secretary of the MUI Jakarta office, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
The MUI has shown its clout on several occasions when it comes to censuring Hollywood films. It succeeded in its lobby to have the Oscar-winning Schindler's List banned before it was screened in Indonesia in 1994, and last year forced the withdrawal of Arnold Schwarzernegger's True Lies after only one week in the movie theaters.
The council has several representatives in the Film Censorship Institute which decides what films may be screened in the country, and how much to cut.
Masyhuri Syaid, an MUI representative of the institute, said he would watch the film first. "I would recommend against releasing it if it insulted Islam," he said.
Soemanto, the chairman of the institute, told The Post that the institute has not received any request so far to review the film, which should come from the film's importers.
Soemanto said it would be wiser if the importers were more selective on what films they brought into the country. "If Executive Decision is insulting to Islam as suggested by newspaper reports, then they should not import the film in the first place," he said.
The influential Committee of Islamic Solidarity has also appealed to the government not to release the film in Indonesia.
Ahmad Sumargono, vice-chairman of the committee, was quoted by the Republika daily as saying last week that film also wrongly portrayed Moslems in the Russian republic of Chechnya who are fighting for independence as "terrorists".
"The film misleads the international public about the nature of Islam, by characterizing Moslems as a bunch of terrorists," he said.(01)