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)