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Miami Beach, Florida – The Mayor of Miami Beach withdrew his proposal to defund and evict a local theater from its city-owned rental space after facing local and national backlash.
The proposal was in response to the theater’s decision to defy his order to not screen No Other Land, a documentary depicting the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank by the Israeli military.
O Cinema first premiered No Other Land last Friday, however prior to screening Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner—who is an Orthodox Jewish Lawyer—contacted O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell to demand the film not be shown.
In the letter, Meiner would claim that “The City of Miami Beach has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish residents in the United States,” and that “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 complied with Mayor Meiner’s demand, later telling the Associated Press, “My initial reaction to Mayor Meiner’s threats was made under duress.”
However, she reversed her decision after reflecting on the broader implications for free speech. Prior to the screening, Marthell would address the audience saying that the decision to show the film was “a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard, even, and perhaps especially, when it challenges us.”
After the premiere, Meiner would retaliate by putting forward a resolution to revoke O Cinema’s lease at the city-owned Miami Beach Historic City Hall and to withdraw over $40,000 in city grant funding.
However, Meiner would ultimately withdraw the proposal at the end of a rowdy Miami Beach City Commission meeting Wednesday morning after the vast majority of attendees—including five of the city’s six commissioners—opposed the resolution.
Instead, Meiner opted for an alternative proposal to “encourage” the theater to screen films that “present a fair and balanced viewpoint of the current war.” The vote on that resolution was deferred to a later meeting.
Despite withdrawing the resolution, an emotional Meiner defended his proposal, insisting that the film’s screening posed “a public safety threat.”
While conceding it did not present an immediate danger, he warned that “propaganda at this level can eventually lead to devastation,” claiming genocide often begins with dehumanizing narratives.
City Commissioner David Suarez—born to an Israeli mother and a Cuban father—was the sole supporter of Meiner’s resolution, arguing that the film promoted Hamas propaganda. He asserted that “when it is shown in taxpayer subsidized venues with public funds, it is not free speech, it is government policy.”
Suarez further accused the theater of cynically exploiting the controversy for fundraising, claiming they were “pretending to be under attack” while simultaneously soliciting $2.8 million in private donations.
He also referenced Hamas’ October 7th raid on Israel, citing a series of widely debunked atrocity claims, including allegations that “Jews were slaughtered, babies were thrown into ovens, women were raped in front of their children, entire households were burned alive, and infants were decapitated.”
This is not the first time Suarez has teamed up with Meiner to use government power to censor those critical of the Jewish community and it’s support for Israel.
Last year, Suarez and Meiner accused the city’s police chief, Wayne Jones—who is Black—of “failing to protect members of the Jewish community” during pro-Palestine rallies.
As evidence, they cited video footage allegedly showing Palestinian protesters heckling and obstructing elderly Jewish congregants outside a local synagogue.
Suarez argued that the incident warranted Jones’ dismissal, further asserting that “if it were a KKK rally, things would have been different.”
In response, the city’s commissioners unanimously passed a resolution cracking down on demonstrations. The measure required the police chief to notify them of all future protests in advance and directed law enforcement to restrict demonstrators to the fullest extent allowed by law.
While the other city commissioners opposed Meiner’s recent proposal to punish O Cinema, they all affirmed their support for Miami Beach’s Jewish community.
City Commissioner and Vice-Mayor Tanya Bhatt—who is Jewish—would show off her “Never Again” tattoo on her arm while opposing the proposal.
However, she would claim that Jews are not safe and that she hasn’t worn her Star of David necklace in years because she doesn’t want to give someone an easy way to target her.
City Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez—who was born to a Yiddish speaking father—would also oppose the proposal asking Meiner to withdraw the resolution and “not punish a theater that hosts the Jewish film festival and screens a holocaust movie monthly…that has a lot of cred in the Jewish community.”
She would also reaffirm Bhatt’s claim that Jewish residents are are experiencing fear, recalling a recent trip to Rome where she was at an outdoor café when a violinist began playing Hava Nagila in a “not very nice” manner, making her uncomfortable.
City Commissioner Joseph Magazine—seemingly the only White city official—would also oppose the proposal, but affirmed his fealty to the city’s Jewish community vowing to make it the safest place outside of Israel for his “Jewish brothers and sisters.”
He also emphasized the need for unity within the community and invited everyone to join together for a group photo at the end, symbolizing their collective support for “all viewpoints of our brothers and sisters.”
Meiner echoed Magazine’s call for unity at the end of the meeting, stating, “Unity doesn’t mean we agree on every policy decision, it means we are striving for what is best for our city and our community”—an attitude which is typical within the Jewish community.
The city of Miami Beach is home to roughly over 80,000 people. According to the Times of Israel, Jewish residents make up roughly 20,000 of those residents.
Although Jewish residents make up only 25% of the city’s population, at least four of the seven members of the City Commission—including the six commissioners and the mayor—have Jewish roots.
This means Jewish residents are over represented by at least 2.3 times on the Miami Beach’s Commission, which is responsible for setting policies, enacting laws, and overseeing the city’s budget.
Jewish individuals often seek out positions of power to advance policies they believe to be in the interest of the Jewish community and crack down on antisemitism.
Earlier this month, A Jewish private equity investor openly bragged about obtaining a little-known federal government position specifically “to tackle antisemitism” in a recent interview with Jewish Insider.
Josh Gruenbaum was recently appointed Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, a role that oversees procurement and contracting for the entire federal government. He was apparently “pleased to discover” that his position could be leveraged to combat so-called antisemitism.
Last week, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for allegedly destroying evidence related to a hate crime investigation into an arson attack believed to have been carried out by his now-deceased brother.
The sentencing judge, U.S. attorney, and FBI special agent involved in the case all appear to be Jewish. Both the judge and U.S. attorney have shared strikingly similar “rags-to-riches” stories about their recent ancestors fleeing Eastern Europe and immigrating to the United States.
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