Now Showing at the UN Multiplex

Claudia Rosett heaps scorn the UN for turning itself into a movie venue for a screening of Julian Schnabel's anti-Zionist flick Miral:

Monday evening at the United Nations, the same trend-setting General Assembly that elected a Libyan Gaddafi loyalist as its 2009-2010 president rolled out the red carpet for another landmark moment in UN creativity: Turning the UN General Assembly chamber into the venue for a commercial movie premiere. And not just any movie, but Julian Schnabel’s “Miral” — apparently the very latest in Israel-trashing pro-Palestinian personal journeys.

Not that this epic event deviated much from the day-job thrust of the General Assembly. The GA default mode, reliably directed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, is to savage Israel and exalt the Palestinians — while ignoring such Palestinian peccadilloes as suicide-bombing and knife-wielding terrorism. But most days the General Assembly is short on the kind of stardust that makes bigotry look chic. Most of the UN delegates who peddle this approach to world peace just don’t have the glitz of Hollywood celebrities. The UN General Assembly rarely projects the glamor of the big screen — annual speeches from the Burmese junta and stage appearances by Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad notwithstanding.

Well… move over, Syria and Cuba. Monday evening’s U.S. premiere of “Miral” finally brought to the UN General Assembly chamber such heavyweights of global diplomacy as Sean Penn, Robert DeNiro, Josh Brolin and Vanessa Redgrave. Also on hand was the the movie’s director, Julian Schnabel, and his Palestinian girlfriend, Rula Jebreal — who inspired the movie...

Egad! How did they find a room big enough to contain the self-regard of such preening weenies?