Lebanon Bans New Wonder Woman Movie Over Israeli Actress

Lebanese authorities have banned the new Hollywood movie "Wonder Woman" Wednesday, hours before it was due to premiere in Beirut, the capital following a campaign against its lead actress, Gal Gadot, who served in the Israel Military, a security official and activists said.

Cinemas in Beirut began removing the movie posters, and cinema executives said the movie will not be shown because of the ban.

Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and the two countries have been through a number of wars, with the last conflict in 2006.

The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The official said the ban, issued by the interior ministry Wednesday, had been relayed to the distribution company, which in turn had to inform the theaters planning to show the movie.

The planned premiere in Beirut on Wednesday was canceled. An executive at the Grand Cinema chain said the company had been planning to show the movie in 16 out of its 18 theaters around the country, but now it would not.

The security official said anyone violating the ban will face legal consequences, but he did not elaborate.

A campaigner against the movie, Rania Masri, of the "Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel -- Lebanon" group, hailed the decision to ban "Wonder Woman" and said it signaled respect for the law. She said there had been much anticipation as the decision to ban the movie was last-minute.

"Still, it was a joyous moment the minute the law was implemented," Masri said.

A similar campaign against another movie in which Gadot played the role of Wonder Woman last year, "Batman v Superman," never turned into an outright ban.

Masri said it was "different" this time because a major media campaign against the movie helped push for the ban.

On its front page Wednesday, Lebanon's leading Al-Akhbar newspaper had a column titled: "The Israeli soldier. She has no place in Lebanon." The column featured a picture of Gadot carrying her Wonder Woman shield.

Warner Bros., which released the film, declined to comment.

Economy Ministry official Alia Abbas said her department, which is responsible for enforcing the boycott of Israel, had delivered a request to ban "Batman v Superman" last year, but it had not succeeded. This time, opponents of the movie presented their petition to the security agencies on Monday, she said.

Masri said the campaign to boycott is about "self-respect" and "resisting" normalizing relations with a state that is at war with Lebanon and occupies Palestinian land.

"First and foremost, she is Israeli. We don't distinguish between a good Israeli and a bad Israeli," Masri said.

The movie, based on the DC Comics character, has earned acclaim for Gadot for landing a rare leading role for a woman in a superhero movie.

Even though Lebanon enjoys a greater margin of freedom of expression than other countries in the region, prior censorship remains in place, particularly with content relating to Israel, religion and homosexuality.

Some in Lebanon criticized the call for the ban, but their voices were faint compared to the boycott campaign, which featured on primetime television in Lebanon.

"We sold many tickets and we had to cancel now," said Isaac Fahed, sales and distribution manager for Grand Cinemas. He said his company would abide by the law, despite the losses it would suffer.

"We have to respect that, but we have [a] few questions," he said.

Fahed said previous movies featuring Gadot had been shown in Lebanese theaters, and her new film will be viewable online and sold on DVD.