Israel and U.S. Jewish groups have lobbied organizers of next month's Academy Awards not to present a nominated film about Palestinian suicide bombers as coming from "Palestine," an Israeli diplomat said on Sunday.
With Israelis and Palestinians locked in conflict over national claims on the same land, the provenance of "Paradise Now" is as combustible an issue as its plot in the run-up to the March 5 ceremony, which will be watched by millions worldwide.
A drama about two men from the occupied West Bank recruited to blow themselves up in Tel Aviv, "Paradise Now" is a contender for the Oscar in the "best foreign film" category.
Many Israelis were irked when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in publishing the nomination, said "Paradise Now" came from "Palestine."
While the tag remains on the academy's Web site, an Israeli diplomat said he expected the film to be described as coming from the "Palestinian Authority" during the awards ceremony.
"Both the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles and several concerned Jewish groups pointed out that no one, not even the Palestinians themselves, have declared the formal creation of 'Palestine' yet, and thus the label would be inaccurate," the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The academy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Palestinians seeking independence in the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel captured in a 1967 war, won limited self-rule under interim accords that formed the Palestinian Authority. Some Jews opposed ceding the land, seeing it as their biblical birthright.
Fighting that erupted in 2000 and last month's victory in Palestinian elections of the Islamic militant group Hamas have dimmed hopes for peaceful two-state co-existence.
"Paradise Now" was a broad coproduction involving an Israeli Arab director and actors, Palestinian crew and locations, a Jewish Israeli producer and private European funding.
Major Israeli cinema chains have shunned the film, with distribution experts citing concerns of low audience turnout given its generally sympathetic portrayal of suicide bombers.
Palestinians have mostly responded well to "Paradise Now," although some voiced misgivings at its depiction of one bomber who undertakes his deadly mission because of social pressure as well as the call to avenge the travails of Israeli occupation.
The controversy around "Paradise Now" compounds an already fraught Academy Awards for Israel, thanks to several nominations garnered by Steven Spielberg's "Munich."
A thriller about the reprisals the Jewish state launched after 11 of its athletes died in a Palestinian raid on the 1972 Olympic Games, Munich has been accused by pro-Israel groups of skewing history and criticizing Israeli security policies.
Spielberg called the film his "prayer for peace."
Source: Reuters via Yahoo! News
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