A fundraising screening of the Oscar-winning documentary film on the Israeli displacement of the Palestinian community, No Other Land, has been cancelled by a Melbourne cinema after organisers the Jewish Council of Australia said the cinema received threats.
JCA had arranged with Classic Cinema in Elsternwick to host the screening of the Palestinian-Israeli Academy Award-winning film on 1 May, which was to be followed by a discussion between a Palestinian and an Israeli speaker, with one of the film-makers recording a dedicated message for the event.
The screening was organised to raise funds for costs incurred by settler-state violence in Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank.
The event had not been widely publicised prior to its cancellation, but a Humanitix page selling tickets to the screening went live earlier this week.
Organiser Sophia Kagan said she received a call from the cinema on Wednesday informing her the event would be cancelled.
Kagan said she was told the cinema had received 20 complaints and threats in one day, and were warned there would be protests planned for the evening of the screening.
The screening date coincides with the release of the next Marvel film, and Kagan said the cinema was concerned about the safety of staff and patrons.
Kagan said she was concerned about the threats and asked Classic for more details of the emails to see if they needed to be passed on to authorities.
Guardian Australia contacted Classic Cinema for comment. Correspondence seen by Guardian Australia confirms the booking was made last month.
As of Thursday afternoon, the cinema had a listing for the film on its website, but no time listed for the screenings. The Humanitix page had been removed.
Kagan said she was “deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“What does that say about freedom of expression in Australia, that an Oscar-winning film made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective, which is being screened in Israel, is censored in such a blatant way?
“I think that Jewish and non-Jewish residents in my neighbourhood are entitled to see this film … I find any sort of threats and complaints and opposition to the screening quite extraordinary, and I think that the fact that the cinema caved so quickly to these complaints … That’s a terrible precedent.”
The organisers told Guardian Australia a new screening has been arranged at Palace in Brighton Bay for the same date.
Cinemas in the United States have been targeted for screening the film, but it appears to be the first public instance of such an alleged targeting in Australia.
Last month, the film’s co-director, Hamdan Ballal, was attacked by settlers and detained by the Israeli military.
