Florida Mayor Drops Threat to Evict Cinema Over Israeli-Palestinian Film

After an emotional city meeting, the mayor of Miami Beach dropped his effort to end a theater’s lease over its showing of “No Other Land.”

The mayor of Miami Beach on Wednesday backed away from a proposal to evict a nonprofit cinema over its showing of an Academy Award-winning documentary depicting Israeli displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Mayor Steven Meiner announced last week that he wanted to oust the theater, O Cinema, from city-owned property after it showed the film, “No Other Land,” which was largely made in the years leading up to the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.

Mr. Meiner has repeatedly condemned the film, made by two Israeli and two Palestinian filmmakers, as “one-sided propaganda on the Jewish people.”

But after an emotional City Commission meeting on Wednesday morning, where it became clear that he did not have the votes for the proposal, Mr. Meiner announced that he would withdraw the resolution. He also set aside, at least for now, an alternative measure he had put forward this week that called on the theater to show films in which “the viewpoint of the Jewish people and the State of Israel is fully and accurately presented.”

“This was a discussion that needed to be had — it was a healthy discussion, and I’m glad that we had it,” said Mr. Meiner, who is Jewish. At one point in the meeting, he appeared to hold back tears as he described his fears of antisemitism in the country and the world.

Speaking after the meeting, he added, “I’m actually very happy the way this turned out.”