WASHINGTON: Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said on Wednesday he dropped his threat to evict an art house cinema from city property for screening Oscar-winning “No Other Land,” a film about the Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The move came after multiple rights advocates and artists in recent days criticized Meiner’s threat and said it would violate free speech.
Meiner said earlier he sought to evict and halt future grant payments to the non-profit O Cinema in South Beach.
City commissioners were scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a resolution introduced by Meiner and made public last week.
In the session, a majority of the seven-member commission said they opposed the resolution, as did dozens of people who gathered.
Meiner said he would introduce another resolution aimed at encouraging O Cinema to show movies highlighting “a fair and balanced viewpoint of the current war” and it would be deferred to a later meeting.
Meiner called the movie “one-sided propaganda” and antisemitic. The film’s co-directors, Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, dismissed antisemitism allegations.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and other rights advocates condemned Meiner’s earlier threat as being against free speech.
Despite winning the Oscar for documentary feature film, “No Other Land” has not been picked up by mainstream US distributors.
The film shows Israeli soldiers tearing down homes and evicting residents to create a military training ground and the encroachment of Jewish settlers on the Palestinian community.
The directors accused Washington of blocking a solution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict whose latest bloodshed involves the ongoing devastating Israeli military assault on Gaza following a deadly October 2023 Hamas attack.
Florida mayor drops threat to evict cinema for screening ‘No Other Land’
https://arab.news/8enwp
Florida mayor drops threat to evict cinema for screening ‘No Other Land’
- Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner vowed to evict and halt future grant payments to the non-profit O Cinema following the screening
- Accusations of “one-sided propaganda” and antisemitism by Meiner intensified the debate surrounding pro-Palestinian activism
MrBeast’s first Saudi-shot video racks up tens of millions of views as Riyadh Season leans into his brand
- ‘100 Pilots Fight for a Private Jet’ amassed around 72m views and tens of thousands of comments within days of release
- Production coincides with ‘Beast Land,’ a theme-park-style experience at Riyadh Season
LONDON: MrBeast’s first video filmed in Saudi Arabia has pulled in tens of millions of views within days of release, coinciding with Riyadh Season 2025’s celebrations themed around the US creator’s extravagant stunts and big-money giveaways.
The YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, published “100 Pilots Fight for a Private Jet” on Saturday, featuring 100 pilots from different countries competing for a private jet worth about $2.4 million. The episode follows his signature formula of large-scale, elimination-style challenges built around eye-catching prizes.
Within a few days, the video had amassed around 72 million views and tens of thousands of comments, underscoring the continued global pull of MrBeast’s content. Organizers of Riyadh Season have highlighted the collaboration as a sign of the festival’s growing international profile.
Donaldson, who began posting videos in 2012, has become one of the world’s most influential online creators, with more than 450 million subscribers and a business empire spanning sponsorships, consumer brands such as Feastables, and food ventures including MrBeast Burger.
Various estimates value his wealth in the billions of dollars, although figures differ across sources.
His rapid rise has also brought scrutiny. A reality competition project, “The Beast Games,” has faced lawsuits alleging unsafe working conditions, harassment, and withheld pay and prizes, claims that Donaldson has dismissed as being “blown out of proportion.”
Some of his high-profile philanthropic videos, such as funding eye surgeries, hearing treatments, or well-building projects in Africa, have been questioned by observers who argue they blur the line between charity, branding, and spectacle.
Despite the controversy, his popularity remains strong, including in the Middle East. In Riyadh, he has lent his name and concepts to “Beast Land,” a temporary theme-park-style experience running from Nov. 13 to Dec. 27, featuring obstacle courses and game-style challenges reminiscent of his online videos.
The collaboration comes amid a broader push by Riyadh Season to cement the Saudi capital’s status as a major entertainment destination. Last year’s edition attracted more than 20 million visitors from 135 countries, and organizers say they expect greater numbers this year.
