Movie Noah is banned in three Arab countries before premiere

Posted on 12 March 2014
By Ashleigh Panther
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Russell Crowe’s latest blockbuster Noah, which depicts the Biblical story of a man chosen by God to save his family and pairs of animals from a cleansing flood, has been banned in three Arab countries.

The story of Noah can be found in the Bible’s Book of Genesis and is revered by Christianity, Judaism and Islam with an entire chapter dedicated to him in the Koran.

Juma Obaid al Leem, the director of the Media Content Tracking Department at the NMC says “Out of respect for these religious sentiments, we are banning the film.”

Quatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have confirmed to Paramount pictures that they will not be releasing the film because they do not believe that prophets of Mohammed should not be used for art reasons.

The use of prophets in European and North American media has sparked a lot of protests and outrage in Islamic countries over the last decade, creating tension with the West.

Countries like Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt have been said to follow suit in banning the film as they believe that it offends Islamic teaching.

Paramount Studios have taken steps to calm the situation by agreeing to edit the promotional material including a disclaimer, “The film is inspired by the story of Noah.

“While artistic licence has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis.”

There was a similar outrage at the release of The Passion of The Christ in 2004, which was released in many Arab countries although widely protested by many Muslim Clerics.

The film is set to open in the US on March 28th and in the UK on April 4th.

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