LEBANON: Hezbollah rhetoric leads Jewish comic to cancel visit

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Gad Elmaleh, dubbed the ‘the funniest man in France,’ was scheduled to stage a number of performances at Lebanon’s Beiteddine Festival on July 13, 14 and 15.

But Elmaleh, who is of Jewish-Moroccan origin, recently announced that he has canceled all his performances in Lebanon this summer because of security concerns. He said he decided to do so ‘out of concern for his personal security and that of the [Beiteddine] festival’ after a campaign against him by Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim militia and political organization.

The dust-up began last week when the TV station affiliated with Hezbollah, Al Manar, aired a photo of Elmaleh accompanied by an image of an Israeli soldier dressed in military fatigues that bore a resemblance to Elmaleh.

Al Manar and other pro-Hezbollah media organizations said Elmaleh was pro-Israel and had served in the Israeli army.

An article on Al Manar’s website alleged that he served in the army for about four years and partook in several wars launched by Israel against Lebanon or in the Gaza Strip.

The report said that ‘Elmaleh has long expressed willingness to defend his country Israel whenever needed” and that the comedian had ‘proudly said that Zionism is the perfect political system to safeguard the Jews.”

Organizers of the festival disputed the allegations. ‘Pictures depicting Gad Elmaleh wearing an Israeli military outfit are doctored,’ they said in a statement published by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency. Elmaleh’s agent also denied the claims and said the image was a hoax.

Noura Jumblatt, who heads the Beiteddine organizing committee, said the group had received threats against Elmaleh’s performances.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s outgoing minister of tourism, Elie Marouni, stressed the importance of keeping arts and culture separate from politics and said Elmaleh is welcome to perform in Lebanon. “In my name as the tourism minister, or as a Lebanese state, we tell Gad Elmaleh he is welcome in Lebanon.

“We are ready to receive him at the airport in order to affirm that Lebanon is a land of freedom and creativity. We have to keep arts, culture and tourism away from politics,’ the Associated Press quoted Marouni as saying at a news conference.

The incident has triggered a stream of news reports and debates on social networking sites. An 8,000-member Facebook group set up in support of Elmaleh, called “No to intellectual terrorism! Yes to Gad Elmaleh in Lebanon,’ is urging Lebanese to take up what the group’s administrators refer to as “cultural resistance” and sign a petition against censorship in Lebanon.

In a similar group, one member opposing Elmaleh’s visit to Lebanon aired his arguments behind his stance.

“This man defended the Israeli army on its war against Lebanon . . . and they want him to visit them and they will pay him money for that . . . very stupid,” read the post.

Lebanon’s outgoing information minister, Tarik Mitri, said, “The way the campaign [against Elmaleh] was launched has probably harmed Lebanon’s image.”

Meanwhile, a post on the Lebanese blog Jamal’s Propaganda asked where the commotion and civil outcries were last week when a female bystander was killed during the clashes that erupted between supporters of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s Future Movement and supporters of the opposition-aligned Amal movement in West Beirut.

“Three ministers took time off from their busy tourist season schedule, after all one of these ministers promised the Lebanese 3 million visitors this summer, to address an issue that has thousands of citizens enraged in this country. The cancellation of a French comedian’s performances in Beiteddine has ruffled some elite feathers, as it should for where will this country be without the freedom of artistic expression. . . . Meanwhile, Zeina Miri, 30-year-old mother of five, gets shot on her balcony. No Facebook groups, no ministers holding hands at press conferences, and more importantly no fear for Lebanon’s image,” read the blog post.

A statement on the website of the Beiteddine Festival says those who have bought tickets to Elmaleh’s shows will be reimbursed.

-- Alexandra Sandels

Below, Elmaleh in 2006. Credit: Wikipedia Commons.