Why Jane Fonda Is Banned in Beirut

Why Jane Fonda Is Banned in Beirut - WSJ.com:
A professor at the American University here recently ordered copies of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' for his classes, only to learn that the book is banned. Inquiring further, he discovered a long list of prohibited books, films and music.

Even a partial list of books banned in Lebanon gives pause: William Styron's 'Sophie's Choice'; Thomas Keneally's 'Schindler's List'; Thomas Friedman's 'From Beirut to Jerusalem'; books by Philip Roth, Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis Singer. In fact, all books that portray Jews, Israel or Zionism favorably are banned.

Writers in Arabic are not exempt. Abdo Wazen's 'The Garden of the Senses' and Layla Baalbaki's 'Hana's Voyage to the Moon' were taken to court. Syria's Sadiq Jalal al-Azm was prosecuted for his 'Critique of Religious Thinking.'

All of Jane Fonda's films are banned, since she visited Israel in 1982 to court votes for Tom Hayden's Senate run. 'Torn Curtain' is banned: Paul Newman starred in 'Exodus.' And the television series 'The Nanny' is banned because of Fran Drescher.

Works that could stimulate dialogue in Lebanon are perfunctorily banned. 'Waltz with Bashir,' an Israeli film of 2008, is banned -- even though it alleges that Ariel Sharon was complicit in the Sabra and Shatilla massacres. According to the Web site Monstersandcritics, however, 'Waltz with Bashir' became an instant classic in the very Palestinian camps it depicts, because it is the only history the younger generation has.