The Israeli mission to the UN has complained about the decision to screen Julian Schnabel's Miralin the UN assembly hall.

The film concerns the experiences of Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian journalist raised in a Jerusalem orphanage.

"This is clearly a politicised decision of the UN, one that shows poor judgment and a lack of even-handedness," the Israeli statement read.

Haim Waxman, Israel's deputy ambassador, weighed in: "We are not aware of any other films with such contentious political content that have received this kind of endorsement from the president of the general assembly."

There have been further complaints from Jewish groups in the US.

Schnabel and distributor Harvey Weinstein, both from Jewish backgrounds, responded in robust fashion. "As a Jewish American I can categorically state that I would not be releasing a film that was flagrantly biased towards Israel or Judaism," Harvey bellowed. " Miraltells a story about a young Palestinian woman, but that does not make it a polemic. By stifling discussion or pre-judging a work of art, we only perpetuate the prejudice that does so much harm."

Schnabel's film, which takes a relatively moderate line, was, on its release, criticised for the cautiousness of its approach.

The UN spokesman said that the assembly was "just a venue", but this has been questioned.

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