By Brandon Cruz
Simone Zimmerman held up handmade flags of the United States and Israel in the film. (Photo via Forward)
On Oct. 1, a screening of the documentary, “Israelism,” was held in the lecture hall of the Social Sciences building, followed by an open discussion about the film.
Shaka McGlotten, media studies professor, and Nathan Holmes, cinema studies professor, along with two members of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), formally known as Purchase Jews for Palestine hosted the event. The screening attracted around 65 people at its peak.
“As a co-organizer of the event, I was extremely happy with the turnout,” Holmes said. “A full house is always a good thing. There was also a feeling in the room that this type of event was necessary, and that it offered a way of building knowledge and understanding that is crucial for meeting our moment.”
The award-winning documentary was produced by Daniel Chalfen, who is going around different places and showing the film. Released on Feb. 23 of 2023, it explores the relationship between the American Jewish community and the state of Israel.
“The story is also my story,” Chalfen said. Although not from America, Chalfen grew up in London, in what he says was a “traditional Jewish home.” Chalfen then moved to Israel, and served in the army.
“Whilst I was there, my eyes were open to a side of the story playing out that I hadn't been previously aware of,” Chalfen said.
The film also discusses Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and how the American Jews are being taught to view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, prior to the Oct. 7 of 2023 attacks.
David Einhorn, a member of JVP, helped run the event alongside McGlotten, Holmes, and Chalfen. Einhorn said, “I think it served as a primer for people who are not part of the demographic who are young American Jews, because they may not be aware of the sort of effect that Israel has on our life.”
Einhorn spoke more about how this education about Israel-Palestine is bleeding in the American Jewish lifestyle, saying that the film doesn’t serve as something to inform people about Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, but rather, “as a function of its PR that is has embedded itself in American synagogues, American Jewish summer camps, Jewish day camps, and things of that ilk.”
“One of the failures across the board is that after the Oct. 7 attacks, but well prior, we just weren’t offering enough opportunities to learn about what’s going on in Israel-Palestine,” said McGlotten. “I hope it’s just an opportunity for discussion. I hope people learn something from it.”
David Einhorn (far left) discussed his thoughts during an open discussion after the screening. (Photo by Brandon Cruz)
Sabrina Thompson, a senior philosophy major and political science minor, felt that she learned more about the discussion surrounding Israel-Palestine from watching the film.
“As an Arab person, I feel like I don’t really hear a lot of perspectives about Israeli people, especially like Israeli anti-zionists or Israelis that are against the occupation,” said Thompson. “It definitely makes me feel like dialogue is more possible, and like dialogue can have more substance and have genuine avenues of healing.”
Emma Hankey, a senior studio composition major, said, “As somebody who’s been trying to take action on this campus to start conversations, this screening felt like a really genuine attempt from faculty to be a part of the conversation and to bring in resources like creators and journalists and artists who can be here with us and show student support.”
Both Thompson and Hankey are members of Raise the Consciousness (RTC), a political activism group on campus. RTC held protests on campus during the latter half of last semester regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict. They feel as if these events can create great opportunities for people to talk about it.
“I think that these sort of educational events built for our community and by our community are really important for us to actually genuinely talk about the genocide in Palestine and how we can navigate talking about it in public institutional places like colleges,” Thompson said.
Since its release, the film has garnered a lot of claims of anti-semitism, which has largely been expressed by viewers of the film and has been shared with other college campuses.
“We released the film, and there was a lot of controversy,” Chalfen said. “A lot of campuses and other venues tried to cancel the film. Not a single play succeeded.”
Chalfen said that Hunter College canceled the screening over what they felt was anti-semitism, but after the president had watched the film, they were later invited back to show it.
On Oct. 1, before the screening, President Milagros Peña sent out a campus-wide email regarding the event.
“We appreciate and understand that some members of the campus community have voiced their concerns about this event,” Peña wrote in the email. “Simply put, we reject anti-semitism in all its forms.”
The event still went forward, with Peña saying, “As we have repeatedly articulated in both word and action, Purchase College is committed to both constitutionally protected robust expression of differing viewpoints and a zero-tolerance anti-discrimination and anti-harassment environment.”
Gavriel Saltzman, secretary of Hillel, wrote in a statement to The Phoenix, "This documentary shows one piece of a complex issue. If we are truly committed to moving to a place of dialogue on this campus, students need to engage with many angles of the topic, digest sometimes uncomfortable information and approach one another with humanity and respect."
Saltzman continued, "As a Jewish student I felt like there was a lack of representation from the various sects of Judaism. I found it disheartening how myself being Orthodox had no representation."
“I think it was extremely shameful,” said Thompson, regarding the email. “The fact that our administration felt the need to capitulate to this narrative that any speaking of Israel in a negative way is anti-semitism was extremely disappointing.”
Hankey said, “I think the administration is not only interested in this narrative of kind of pitting people against each other, but they are also actively working to create the narrative themselves. I think this email is just one of many emails where the school has incited fear in students about anti-Semitic hate crimes.”
“Universities who are sending out emails suggesting that the film might be anti-Semitic would do better to watch the film before casting an impression on it,” said Chalfen.
Comments