Writer attacks Oscar-nominated Palestinian director's claims

American filmmaker and social critic Michael Moore hit off on his Twitter page once again Tuesday morning following an article on Buzzfeed challenging the story about Palestinian director Emad Burnat. The Oscar-nominated director of 5 Broken Cameras was believed to be held at Los Angeles International Airport with his wife and eight-year-old son. Customs agents threatened to send him and his family back if they could not verify his invite to the Oscars. "Apparently the Immigration and Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help," Michael Moore wrote on his Twitter page the day Burnat was held. Moore said he then called officials at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who called lawyers. "After 1.5 hours, they decided to release him and his family and told him he could stay in LA for the week and go to the Oscars. Welcome to America,” he later tweeted. However, Buzzfeed reporter, Tessa Stuart, wrote a one-source story insinuating that the whole thing was a publicity stunt for Moore and the film. “Sources at LAX challenged Moore's account of the events, calling the allegations that Burnat was detained ‘baloney’ and asserting the whole thing was an elaborate publicity stunt for the film” Stuart wrote for the site. Her article was met with a lengthy and furious response from Michael Moore who took to his Twitter account to vent his frustration at the allegations to his 1.5 million followers. Some of his Tweets included: Tessa Stuart of Buzzfeed has lied about the Palestinian filmmaker detained at LAX and I can prove it. Tessa, I'll give u an hr to correct. Feel bad for you, being snookered by Homeland Security. Re-read your story and look for the clue of how u got used. #journalismisdead Nobody, no nominee, had their tickets on Tuesday because the Academy didn't release them to Oscar-goers until 2 days later -- on Thursday. So that's just an outright lie. Completely fabricated and easy to disprove with 1 call to the Academy. But why do that?... PS. An Academy official just emailed me: "Absolutely no one had physical possession of an Oscar ticket on Tuesday." Not Clooney, not Burnat. Emad Burnat's co-director, Guy Davidi, reiterated Moore's account of the events, and said that he believed Burnat was profiled by Customs officers because his wife was wearing a hijab. "They saw his wife, a Muslim, with the whole costume, and his son, he has his Arab look. They just could not believe that this guy was really, actually nominated for the Oscar. They were sure that he is not telling the truth. It doesn't matter that he asked them to Google his name," Davidi said. Although the Palestinian director lost out on an Oscar for Best Documentary to Searching for Sugar Man, his work was still very much appreciated and adored by many worldwide. The documentary, 5 Broken Cameras is a first-hand account following five years of Burnat and his family's life in the West Bank village Bil'in affected by the Israeli security barrier.