Jordanian director caves, stops production of film accused of being "Zionist"

Last week I reported about a Jordanian film that was embroiled in controversy when one of its actors withdrew from the film, claiming that the script was "Zionist" and implied that Jews were the rightful owners of Petra.

In the film's plot, a Bedouin child finds a stone with Hebrew letters in Petra and it is seen as proof that it was the real site of the biblical Mount Sinai.

Since then, the director  Mohyee-Deen Qandour strongly denied the actor's words, saying that he withdrew because he wanted a bigger role. 

Beyond that, the Qandour said that even according to the Quran, Moses and the Jews were in Jordan before coming to the Land of Israel; it is not controversial to say that they were there. It doesn't imply any sort of ownership.

This defense of the film was all for naught. After a week of bizarre accusations, Qandour canceled all filming.

The "Jaber" film team decided to cancel the shooting following the wide controversy that its script raised on social media platforms.

The team decided to cancel the shooting after a state of controversy was raised upon the film, in order to prevent anything that would harm national unity or raise issues that may affect national security, Director of the film Mohy Al Din Quandour said in a statement on Saturday, August 3, 2019.

I'm sure that the Jews who were filmed praying in the area of Aaron's tomb this week helped fuel the conspiracy theories that killed this film.

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