Weinstein: 'Miral' not anti-Israel

NEW YORK, March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein vehemently denies director Julian Schnabel's drama "Miral" is anti-Jewish or anti-Israel, as detractors have suggested.

The story of a Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war was screened at the United Nations in New York Monday night.

The American Jewish Committee had asked the president of the U.N. General Assembly not to screen the film, claiming it portrays Israel "in a highly negative light" and is "blatantly one-sided."

Weinstein, whose The Weinstein Co. is distributing the movie, told The Hollywood Reporter he disagreed with that characterization.

"The people who don't want you to see the movie for political reasons are crazy or wrong," Weinstein said. "I think the idea is, let there be peace."

Weinstein told the entertainment industry trade newspaper he thinks the film's critics are overreacting.

"If they see the movie, they'll see something that's a pathway to peace and a beautiful coming-of-age story," he added.