Miami Beach Mayor moves to oust theater, cut funding over ‘No Other Land’ screening 

Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner is taking aggressive steps to evict an independent theater from its city-owned venue and strip it of funding after it screened “No Other Land,” an Oscar-winning documentary exploring Palestinian displacement in Judea and Samaria. Meiner, who is Jewish, has labeled the film antisemitic and is pushing legislation to terminate O Cinema’s lease at the Miami Beach Historic City Hall, as well as cut over $40,000 in city grant funding. The proposal is set to be reviewed by the city commission at its upcoming meeting on Wednesday.

The controversy erupted when “No Other Land,” co-directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, premiered last Friday at O Cinema. Days before the screening, Meiner personally intervened, contacting O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell to urge her to cancel the event. In a letter to Marthell, Meiner wrote, “The City of Miami Beach has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish residents in the United States. The ‘No Other Land’ film is a one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.”

Initially, Marthell acquiesced to the mayor’s request, citing “concerns of antisemitic rhetoric” as the reason for canceling the screening. However, she later reversed the decision, emphasizing the importance of free speech. “My initial reaction to Mayor Meiner’s threats was made under duress,” Marthell told the Associated Press in an email on Thursday. “After reflecting on the broader implications for free speech and O Cinema’s mission, I (along with the O Cinema board and staff members) agreed it was critical to screen this acclaimed film.”

Meiner has since doubled down, defending his actions amid accusations of censorship. In his newsletter, he stated, “I am a staunch believer in free speech. But normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach, after O Cinema conceded the ‘concerns of antisemitic rhetoric,’ is unjust to the values of our city and residents and should not be tolerated.” He argues that the film’s content clashes with the city’s ethos, particularly given its large Jewish population.

“No Other Land,” which won Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, 2025, chronicles the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank through the lens of Adra and Abraham’s unlikely friendship. Though it lacks a U.S. distributor, its Oscar win has spurred growing interest from theaters nationwide. The film has drawn polarized reactions: Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has denounced it as “sabotage” against Israel, especially in light of the October 7 Hamas attack and the ongoing war in Gaza, while its creators defend it as a call for justice. Abraham, responding to Meiner’s criticism, told the AP, “When the mayor uses the word antisemitism to silence Palestinians and Israelis who proudly oppose occupation and apartheid together, fighting for justice and equality, he is emptying it out of meaning. I find that to be very dangerous.”

The dispute in Miami Beach unfolds against a backdrop of heightened national debates over free speech and pro-Palestinian activism, exemplified by the recent detention of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder involved in campus protests. In Miami Beach, reactions among city officials are mixed. City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez criticized Meiner’s approach as a “knee-jerk reaction” that could lead to “costly legal battles,” even while agreeing with his view of the film. “The Mayor cannot send a letter condemning a film and then cancel O Cinema’s contract days later,” she wrote in a newsletter to constituents. “Doing so would result in an expensive lawsuit we will lose.”

Meanwhile, City Commissioner David Suarez signaled support for Meiner’s legislation in a text to the Miami Herald, though he withheld his final voting stance. “A religious Jew was voted as Mayor, along with a Zionist city council. Unlike other cities, we have zero tolerance for pro-Hamas/terrorist propaganda,” Suarez wrote. “The City of Miami Beach will continue to stand up for our Jewish population, home to Holocaust survivors, and while most people use ‘Never Again’ as a platitude, we mean it.”

JTA contributed to this article.