‘Ben Hur’: ‘L.A. Times’ Denial of Jewish and Movie History
by Robert J. Avrech
Charlton Heston as Judah Ben Hur, the Jewish hero—notice the Star of David necklace—of Ben Hur, 1959.
The Los Angeles Times is, like the NY Times, a reliably anti-Israel newspaper whose liberal/progressive/leftist slant often veers into support for the Jew-hatred that is the foundation of Palestinian terror.
Even their entertainment articles frequently marinate in a radical ideology that extends to an ignorant and vile denial of Jewish, not to mention literary history.
In this brief announcement of an anniversary release of a Ben Hur DVD, the Charlton Heston character, Judah Ben Hur, is referred to as a “Palestinian nobleman.”
In the book and in all the movies Judah Ben Hur is a Jewish merchant.
This charade of so-called Palestinian history is a replacement ideology, Jewish history erased by faux Palestinians, a post-modern construct with zero historical basis.
I might add that this is also a fabrication of movie history.
This is a classic example of the big lie that was used by the Nazis to persecute and ultimately commit genocide against the Jews. This strategy is being used by the Muslim world, Arab, Turkish and Persian, to demonize the Jewish people and create an environment where the murder of Jews is not only acceptable but necessary.
Remember, The Los Angeles Times withheld the video of footage showing Barack Obama celebrating with PLO terrorist spokesman Rashid Khalidi. Apparently the Jew-hatred rampant that evening would have destroyed Obama’s presidential aspirations.
The Los Angeles Times is an enthusiastic partner in jihad.
I’d like to thank my friend Yisroel Medad of My Right Word for bringing this stealth piece of Jew-hatred to my attention.
William Wyler‘s 1959 epic, “Ben-Hur,” which dominated the Academy Awards in winning 11 Oscars, including best film, director, actor (Charlton Heston) and supporting actor (Hugh Griffith), is getting the superstar treatment in Warner’s 50th-anniversary ultimate collection edition arriving Tuesday in both regular DVD and Blu-ray.
Based on the novel by Lew Wallace, the period drama revolves around Judah Ben-Hur (Heston), a Palestinian nobleman [bold font by Big Hollywood] who is enslaved by the Romans, engages in one of the most thrilling chariot races ever captured on screen, and even encounters Jesus Christ.
The film was restored frame by frame from the original 65-millimeter camera negative and digitally remastered. Among the extras on the three-disc set are the new feature-length documentary “Charlton Heston & Ben Hur: A Personal Journey,” written and directed by the actor’s son, Fraser C. Heston; highlights from the 1960 Oscar telecast and the 1925 silent version starring Ramon Novarro.
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176 Comments
The late Mr. Heston was extremely supportive of the Jewish state, and I think he would've taken major offense @ his character being referred to as a 'palestinian' anything.
Just like we all had AIDS, we're all Palestinians now…. </sarcasm>
Can someone enlighten me as to why this "newspaper" is still widely circulated in West L.A?
It turns my stomach when I read such…..grrrrrrrr.
yeah, no sh!t.
"In this brief announcement of an anniversary release of a Ben Hur DVD, the Charlton Heston character, Judah Ben Hur, is referred to as a “Palestinian nobleman."
In other news it has been reported that peace loving former Israeli statesman Yasser Arafat is still dead.
….The corrupt L.A.Times will soon disappear, Israel will still be here……
Ah… Jews… hello?? Ah… Jews…. HULLO???? Time to be CONSERVATIVE…
Wow.
Just wow.
Of course, there'll be excuses and corrections and it will all go away and be forgotten.
This is just damn creepy.
"even encounters Jesus Christ". Sounds like he ran into him at the mall. The novel was titled "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ". I think there was more than an "encounter".
Why are we supposed to hate the Jews again? I keep forgetting.
Every chance they get…
Kinda makes you think that ol' Bible might just be telling the truth doesn't it?
Apparently because they won't bare their throats to the knives.
No, it doesn't make sense to me, either.
I'd be interested in getting the blu ray. I can't imagine they'd make any changes to the movie itself. Would they?
Maybe George Lucas' treatment of Star Wars and Steven Spielberg's treatment of Close Encounters and ET has me nervous whenever I hear there is an anniversary edition or a new edition of any beloved film coming out. If the movie itself is untouched, I plan on going for it.
Interesting how 2000 year old predictions seem to be falling into place.
I wish I was an LA Times subscriber. I'd like to cancel a subscription over this.
Because they control EVERYTHING. Yes, tiny little Israel is so evil and so smart and so omnipresent that it controls the world's banks, crops, entertainment, news, the military industrial complex, beauty supplies, floss, and supply of Oxyclean. Israeli man are far better in bed than any Muslim simply because they bathe! And they have all those scientists (did I mention they control science?). And they drink the blood of Arab children while claiming to keep kosher.
Oh, and they have women who look like this:
http://worldsactor.blogspot.com/2011/06/moran-ati...
Spielberg has apparently promised to not alter his movies anymore. I can only assume he looked at Lucas and saw the Gollum to his Frodo.
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/09/spielberg-re...
This is from the opening voice-over narrative by Balthasar as played by Finlay Currie:
In the Year of our Lord, Judea – for nearly a century – had lain under the mastery of Rome. In the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an imperial decree ordered every Judean each to return to his place of birth to be counted and taxed. The converging ways of many of them led to the gates of their capital city, Jerusalem, the troubled heart of their land. The old city was dominated by the fortress of Antonia, the seat of Roman power, and by the great golden temple, the outward sign of an inward and imperishable faith. Even while they obeyed the will of Caesar, the people clung proudly to their ancient heritage, always remembering the promise of their prophets that one day there would be born among them a redeemer to bring them salvation and perfect freedom.
Not Palenstine, but Judea.
Tiberius Caesar: [Tiberius Caesar sees Judah Ben-Hur, in Arrius' chariot] This man riding beside you, who is he?
Quintus Arrius: The man who saved me, divine Emperor, to return and serve you.
Tiberius Caesar: Is that all you know of him?
Quintus Arrius: No. He was accused of an attack on the governor of Judea. But he was innocent.
Tiberius Caesar: If not, there is a strange inconsistency in this man, who tries to kill my governor, yet saves the life of my Consul. Come tomorrow, and we will talk of him.
Not Palenstine, but Judea.
Sextus: That was very wise. This Judah Ben-Hur is the son of one of the wealthiest families in Judea.
Not Palenstine, but Judea.
Pontius Pilate (to Judah Ben-Hur): Leave Judea. You have my warning.
Not Palenstine, but Judea.
Judah Ben-Hur: Children of God? In that dead valley where we left them? I tell you every man in Judea is unclean, and will *stay* unclean, until we've scoured off our bodies the crust and filth of being at the mercy of tyranny. No other life is possible except to wash this land clean!
Not Palenstine, but Judea.
The term "Palestine" first came into use after the Roman emperor, Hadrian, sent six Roman legions to crush the Bar Kochba revolt around 135 A.D.. In an attempt to prevent any future revolts by the Jews, he drove many of the surviving Jews (over 580,000 Jews were killed in the revolt) from their ancestral homeland, proscribed the practice of the Jewish faith, and changed the names of the provinces of Judea and Galilee to "Syria Palaestina". These actions served as the template years later when the Roman empire crushed the Dacian revolt and changed the name of their province to "Romania". So you see, the term "Palestine" was created in response by an empire to remove the history of a people that refused to knuckle under.
yeah she's something.
much better than the Israeli guy who installed my garage door opener. He was wearing a "Sea Shepherd" whale wars shirt and had terrible BO.
I can't wait for the re-release of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" starring that pesky Palestinian troublemaker, Jesus Christ.
Oh, brother…
=(
Hey, if Judah Ben Hur was a Palestinian, then all Israelis are actually Palestinians, right? Then why are the Palestinians pledging to drive the Palestinians into the sea? Incredible.
I guess it's too late to stop people from going absolutely nuts about this, but it's worth remembering that until fairly recent times, right up until the founding of Israel, the adjective "Palestinian" was frequently used to refer to Jews living in the mandated territory of Palestine, and not to Arabs.
The first movie version of BEN-HUR was made in 1925, and chances are good that in some promotions and reviews, Judah was indeed referred to as a Palestinian. Could that get cut and pasted into a modern press release? It could. It's not like the twenty-year-olds assembling such articles at the Times have actually seen either version of the movie.
Here? where is here ? have you ever been there? have you ever left your trailer?
Your infatuation with Israhell is laughable at best.
If Judah Ben Hur were "Palestinian" wouldn't his name be Judah Ibn Hur?
…Here on Earth, in reality – a place you left long ago, you psycho-fascist bigot……..
news flash, morons!
anti Semites refers to Jews AND Muslim haters among others…
most Israel citizens are Arab by origin.
most hard core Jews feel utter contempt to Christianity. in perticular annoying missionaries.
Wow, between the L.A. Times and NY Times we've apparently been "treated" to coast-to-coast anti-semitism.
And to think so many Jewish men and women work for these newspapers!
How I wished more Jewish people were as proud of their heritage as this Jew.
I can't decipher an actual point in your incoherent blabbering.
One think that does comes thru loud and clear is that you're a sh!t stain.
Not Palenstine. but Palestine.
Palenstine is where Sarah is from.
LOL!
Yup. He and Jesus shared a passover meal at the food court /sarc off
Palestinian community organizer.
"most hard core Jews feel utter contempt to Christianity. in perticular annoying missionaries. "
They may have contempt, but at least they don't cut our heads off……..
How do you even come up with "Palestinian Nobleman" ? I would like to be given some examples of other "Palestinian Noblemen" in the Roman Empire. They seem to have been rather obscure.
Just so. I remember hearing him speak at a rally in support of Jewish Russian dissidents…not a typical celebrity venue. He was adored by the mostly Jewish crowd — "There's Moses!"
Because many people, bitter clingers, still want to have a newspaper in the morning, and the only other option, the OC Register, is weak (my household gets both right now, btw). If newspapers were still a viable enterprise competitors would surely have by now arose and vanguised the LAT. But alas, newspapers are going the way of the dodo bird.
good one!
I'm guessing "Judah" would not be found anywhere in the name. The original Judah, of course, being one of the 12 sons of Jacob (aka "Israel").
Brilliant! haha
they would if they could.
Appalling.
I love how someone using the word "perticular" calls others "morons."
Beautiful.
This "perticular" moron's credibility is as low as its ability to communicate.
Isn't "Palestinian nobleman" an oxymoron?
B*LLSH*T!
I'm a Jewish born Catholic who is seriously entertaining the idea of returning to Judaism. My husband is a Calvinist . To quote Chrissy Hyde: 'I've got a smile for everyone I meet-as long as you don't go dredging my bay or dropping a bomb on my street '. Okay-since I live in West Texas there's no bay-but you get my point.
Whoever was writing the LA Times blurb clearly wasn't paying attention to the movie very well, because I distinctly remember Ben-Hur and his family being identified as Jewish. Their house even has a mezuzah at the front door. A mezuzah is a piece of parchment with the prayer "Shema Yisrael" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21) written on it, and is placed on the doorways of Jewish homes.
How do you even walk upright carrying around such a load of hate. It must be very huge burden. Let it go friend, it does you harm and no one else any good.
Stop that right now MV. No fair using logic on liberals. It hurts their feelings.
Ibn a Bad Boy?
Why would the Jewish crowd be interested in Moses? Wasn't he an Egyptian prophet?
Boardwalk Fries? Yum…
Go get 'im, Doc!
…..I'm trying to 'tough-love' the poor bastard back to humanity….
What do you mean, they would if they could, why couldn't they? Christians are killed in Muslim countries why couldn't Jews kill Christians in Israel if they wanted?
Not God bless Palestine!
The chickens are coming home to roast.
Even if what you say is true, we as Christians love them anyway. Check it out: the GOP is the biggest support of Israel even though it cannot hope to get but a fraction of the Jewish votes. It's not what is convenient or what gets us something in return. It's what is right.
What the ????…. Ben Hur is very Jewish. The book talks about him being a Jewish merchant. The movie too. I loved the book Ben Hur. The movie was ok, ( they left out alot of the book) but Ben Hur was still Jewish. are we living in a world where Isreal never existed? Hey .. why don't they release Exodus, with Paul Newman, a movie that wouldn't even be made today. (Another great book by the way) maybe burning the Torah and Bible are next after all they are full of Jewish history. Changing the language dosen't change the facts. Ben Hur not Jewish,,. sheesh what nonsense.
Are you being serious? Moses was a Hebrew kid adopted by Egyptians. Then, after some serious events, he was the leader of the Israelites after the Exodus.
I hope you really didn't know that before posting.
Nice
Oh man, I'm convinced that if those scum didn't have cameras filming on their floating piece of dreamland they'd have failed to get back to port a long time ago.
That was nicely put.
New Citizen24 – Oops, shouldn't that be "Nazi Citizen"? Now please go back to reading your latest edition of "Mein Kampf."
Beyond the ham-handed politically correct absurdity of referring to Judah Ben Hur as "palestinian", a term that did not exist in the first century, there is a deeper type of historical revisionism going on here.
Judah Ben Hur, a Jewish hero who rebelled against a tyrannical empire, is being recast…as a "palestinian" hero who rebelled against a tyrannical empire. Do I need to spell out how Ben Hur is being appropriated by the left, and who fills the modern progressive's vision of the Evil Empire?
Picture Ben Hur strapping a suicide belt to his chest, or smuggling a boxcutter on to a United or American Airline flight…
Why are they not considered a terrorist organization? And to give them a legitimizing tv show to boot!Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Seriously NewCitizen24 (I mean, "Nazi Citizen"), you hate Jews so much, what's the matter? Six million Jews dying in the Holocaust not enough for you?
Sheesh, people! That was called *sarcasm*! I was mocking the L.A. Times!
I almost added a "sarcasm" tag to my comment but then I thought, "Surely everyone will get it." I guess I was wrong.
Karpesky, how many Swastikas and editions of "Mein Kampf" do you have?
Please Buckwheat. You must learn the Progressive double-speak. You DO NOT hate Jews. You oppose Zionism. You don't want to exterminate the Jews, you would rather smash the Occupation.
Now you're not a hater, just a concerned liberal activist furthering the cause of terrorism, oops Social Justice.
Sarcasm is difficult in posts like these. What is obvious in your head often does not read literally that way. Especially given this subject, you could have been some kind of ignorant Palestinian propagandist.
Your words also stopped me. I was moving quickly, but sarcasm didn't come instantly to mind.
Hanan Ashrawi writes for the L.A. Times?
Well the LA times is just so full of it, after all who even reads it. As for Ben Hur, One of my greatest memories of a little kid, I was all of 6 when I saw this one for the first time on the Big Screen, it was Early 1960. Lew Wallace wrote a wonderful book about one mans Salvation, it is after allStory of Christ, written by a man who had seen much in his life time, Lew Wallace was among other things Major General Wallace, Army of the Potomac. Ben Hur remained one of the greatest if not the greatest Movies Hollywood ever did make. 1959 was the year when Hollywood started to go off the rails, the stuff made before vs what would come after ward. Besides it was great story telling, and well it was set in Judia, or one should say Israel, at the time of the Romans , the time of Christ, and the soon 2000 year exile from the Jewish home land. Men like Lew Wallace, knew more of history that the clown who wrote the news paper piece. In the modern era, Palestine and Palestinians were a creation of the British after World War I. Jews were returning to the home land since the 1880's and for the most part bought the land they settled on, mostly swamps spent 40 or so years reclaiming the swamps with hard back breaking work!
"…The Los Angeles Times withheld the video of footage showing Barack Obama celebrating with PLO terrorist spokesman Rashid Khalidi…"
Is the LATIMES still withholding this video? Wasn't Bill Ayers at this party, too? Thanx.
I was thirteen the first I saw Ben Hur at the Paradise Theater down town in Moline, Illinios. The next weekend, I grabbed my best friend and took him to it. That film is still one of my all time favorites.
I don't ever remember thinking of the Charlton Heston title character as being anything but a Jew.
Doublethink?
Compared to Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, Israel is a Garden of Eden. The Israelis did NOT "kick the 'Palestinians' out of Israel." They left of their own accord, not wanting to be governed by "those evil Jews." Jordan, on the other hand, DID kick the Palestinians out of Jordan–apparently afraid that they'd suddenly realize that Israel is NOT their "homeland"….JORDAN is.
This charade of so-called Palestinian history is a replacement ideology, Jewish history erased by faux Palestinians, a post-modern construct with zero historical basis.
Why are we using the term 'history' here? Isn't this a fictional character?
This story screamed out for a sarcastic response.
Herman Cain was right; we need a sense of humor.
Sorry, I try to take into account that there may actually be a person who legitemately doesn't know (hard to believe, I know, but your post didn't seem mean-spirited, so I was just checking). I hope that my post didn't come off as me being a prick, as that was not my intention. I just wanted to know if you were picking a fight. The thought that it may have been sarcastic didn't even enter my head.
For sure, man.
Oooohhhhh! Thanks. I hate being outdated. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Well, either one will kill ya.
Who got your back?
Yes, but it's based on the history of the beginning of the Christian era and should (and did) make an attempt at being historically accurate insofar as civilizations and cultures were then.
By the way, "Ibn" translates from Arabic as "son of" much as "O" does in Irish names, "Mac" or "Mc" does in Scottish names and "Ben" does in Hebrew. The Norse were more straightforward in that Lief Erickson is "the son of Eric." Therefore, "Judah ben Hur translates as "Judah, son of the House of Hur." Just as "David Ben Gurion" (though usually Anglicized as "Bengurian") is "David, son of the House of Gurion."
LMAO!
D
The video is locked away with his school transcripts, his Indonesian passport, etc.
Judah Ben Hur, is referred to as a “Palestinian nobleman.”
Disgusting.
Communists like Lenin were notorious for rewriting history and even removing individuals from photos. LASlimes and the NYSlimes have always been a home for commies and neo-fascists.
When the LA Times stops perverting the First Amendment by releasing the Rashid Khalidi Dinner Party video tape in which then State Senator Obama (with Pentagon bomber Bill Ayers and his sidekick Bernadine present) spoke about how his "eyes were opened" by the PLO apologist Khalidi, we can then discuss how completely anti-Israel and anti-semitic the LA Times, the Left, and the current Obama WH and State Department is. There are so many raging clueless anti-Israel activists living in LA influencing California politics on so much, is it any wonder the state is in such trouble?
I don't disagree with Herman Cain.
In this format, though, it is not easy to figure out what someone else means – nor do I want to have to. If I had remembered some history with you, I might have caught on quicky.
The probelm is in your communication, not in my interpretation.
I was fortunate to meet Mr. Heston years ago. Even though he was sort of a ham I always liked him. Also met one of the great matte painters who worked on Ben Hur.
Agreed the LA Times is trash but IT IS JUST A MOVIE for cryin' out loud. There are far more important things to think about.
To use the language of the era, it is called "Damnatio memoriae" … erasing the memory of unpopular emperors and people.
L.A. Times just dusted it off and is applying it to Jews.
In 500 years, will the J word even be found in history books?
When in doubt, put the "sarc" tag out.
The term "Palestinian" is a bastardization of the historical term "Philistine" which is Hebrew for "invader". On top of that, the Philistines were from Greece and Crete, not Arabia.
The name "Judah" is for the patriarch of the tribe of Judah (one of 12 tribes) that settled around Jerusalem and Bethlehem. During the Hebrew civil war after Solomon, the nation was divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. "Judah" is the root for the word "Jew".
Ben-Hur can't get anymore Jewish than that.
HISTORICAL fiction. Ever heard of it? Evidently not.
"Sort of a ham"–yeah, ACTORS are like that.
Charlton Heston: Guns 'n Moses! YEAH baby!
LOL!
THAT AIN'T BAR REFAELI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p
News Channel 8. So they tell me
You owe my a keyboard!!!
…and yet most don't know that which regards the LA Times readership very well…and as such will automatically equate Palestinian as Arab…which is most likely their intent.
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