Uruguay: Screening of Hamas propaganda film at university canceled after outcry

A Mexican documentary about life in Gaza produced in collaboration with Hamas was set to screen at Uruguay's largest university before being canceled following public backlash, according to an American Jewish organization.

The 2025 film "La Gran Palestina" Or "Greater Palestine" Had been scheduled for Wednesday evening at Universidad de la Republica. Opposition leaders questioned why a propaganda piece by a terrorist group would be presented at a public institution.

The film's promotional material states it was made "in collaboration with the combatants of the resistance (Hamas)."

"At a time when anti-Israel rhetoric is spreading at Uruguay's most prestigious public university, the cancellation of a documentary screening presenting Hamas's perspective should be seen as a victory," Said Ariel Gelblung, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's director for Latin America. "You can feel empathy with the Palestinians. But promoting terrorism is a red line that should not be crossed."

The cancellation comes less than three years after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed approximately 1,200 people in what was described as the worst single-day attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The film, directed by Mexican filmmaker Rafael Rangel, had previously been shown on July 1 at the Faculty of Humanities and Arts of the National University of Rosario in Argentina. The university's rector subsequently apologized and stated he had not been aware of the screening.

The film is the second in a trilogy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a third installment titled "Trilogy of a Genocide" In production. It is scheduled to be shown at Cornell in October.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said it would "continue to expose antisemitism and the normalization of hate at public universities or elsewhere."