Following intense national and local criticism from free speech advocates, the mayor of Miami Beach has withdrawn a proposal to terminate the lease and grants of an independent theater in retaliation for showing No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The Miami Herald reported today that during a "raucous" Miami Beach City Commission meeting, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner pulled a proposed resolution he introduced last week that would have terminated the city's lease agreement and tens of thousands of dollars in grants with O Cinema, an independent theater that rents space from the city.
Meiner filed the bill after O Cinema moved ahead with the screenings despite an official letter from Meiner stating that showing the documentary would be "normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach."
