Israelism
Directed byErin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen
Produced byDaniel J. Chalfen, Nadia Saah, Erin Axelman
CinematographySam Eilertsen
Edited byTony Hale
Music byCody Westheimer
CountryUnited States

Israelism is a 2023 American documentary about the portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in American Jewish institutions. The film was directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, has been screened at various film festivals in the United States and won a Brooklyn Film Festival Spirit Award.[1][2][3]

The film is critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, and of the American Jewish community's education on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It follows two American Jews as they learn about the conflict and come to revise their views. The film also includes interviews with academics and political activists.

Some late 2023 screenings of the film at universities and other venues in the US and Canada were cancelled, following an online campaign accusing the film of antisemitism, with screenings reinstated following criticism from academic and civil liberties organizations.[4]

Content

Israelism argues that some American Jews are taught a narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that "almost entirely erases the existence of Palestinians", Sam Wolfson wrote in The Guardian.[5] Interviewees include Noam Chomsky, Cornell West, Jeremy Ben-Ami and Sami Awad.[2] The film focuses on the perspectives of Simone Zimmerman (co-founder of IfNotNow) and another Jewish American, a former IDF soldier identified only as "Eitan."[6] The film follows them as they learn more about the treatment of Palestinians and come to revise their views on Israel.[7] The film also interviewed Abe Foxman, former director of the Anti-Defamation League, who subsequently claimed he could only get through 10 minutes of watching the film and that he regretted participating in it.[8][9]

Reception

The film has won awards at film festivals, including at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.[9] Writing in Jacobin of "the idea that caring about Jewish people means supporting the state of Israel and that anyone who condemns Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians must be an antisemite", Ben Burgis said, "Israelism takes apart that narrative, brick by brick, until nothing is left."[8] Writing for The Forward, Mira Fox stated that “Israelism‘s depiction of the American Jewish education system is damning. But it can feel unfocused on other topics, such as when detailing Israel’s unjust treatment of Palestinians, which feels redundant at a time when criticism of Israel is becoming increasingly mainstream.”[6] In The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, David Suissa wrote that the film is a "gross misrepresentation of the complex Israel-Palestinian conflict ... that specializes in withholding information" and "wants us to believe that Zionist advocacy was so one-sided and all-consuming it created a generation of young Jews who, feeling duped, have turned against the Jewish state."[10]

Campaign to stop the screening of the film

In the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the film was the target of an online campaign calling for the cancellation of screenings at college campuses. The campaign primarily received support from individuals not affiliated with the universities in question.[4] The online campaign extended also to some non-university venues which had scheduled screenings of the film.[11]

The decision to cancel a 14 November screening at Hunter College was denounced by the college's student, faculty and staff senate, which demanded that a screening be re-scheduled within the month.[9] PEN America also criticized the decision.[12] A spokesperson for the college stated that it would be rescheduled, and that screening the film at a later date "was always the plan".[9] On 29 November, the same spokesperson announced that the delayed screening would take place on 5 December.[13]

The University of Pennsylvania refused to allow a Jewish student group to screen the film on 28 November. The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemned the university’s action[14] and the screening of the film went ahead, facilitated by the university’s Middle East Center.[13] The Center’s director resigned his position on the same day. According to a statement put out by the AAUP chapter, his resignation was in response to pressure from university administrators who had instructed the Center not to show the film.[15]

The board of directors of The Westdale, a community cinema and arts venue in Hamilton, Ontario, cancelled a screening of the film, scheduled for 6 December. The Westdale's executive director said that the staff had received around a dozen emails, with almost identical wording, calling for the event to be cancelled.[11] The group which had organised the event argued that the theatre was failing in its mission to encourage the use of art to explore differences. On 1 December, the board reversed its decision to cancel the screening, saying "After careful review, we determined that there was no credible evidence that the screening would cause harm to anyone in our community", adding that "screening a film that deals with a controversial topic is core to [The Westdale’s] mandate."[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Israelism". Brooklyn Film Festival. 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Israelism". San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. 2023.
  3. ↑ "Festival Winners @ Brooklyn Film Festival". Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  4. 1 2 Fox, Mira (2023-11-17). "Cancel culture comes for a documentary about Jews critical of Israel". The Forward. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  5. ↑ Wolfson, Sam (12 November 2023). "Raised to see Israel as a 'Jewish Disneyland', two US film-makers are telling a different story". The Guardian.
  6. 1 2 Fox, Mira (24 February 2023). "Were young American Jews lied to about Israel? A new documentary says yes". The Forward.
  7. ↑ Fox, Mira (2023-11-17). "Cancel culture comes for a documentary about Jews critical of Israel". The Forward. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  8. 1 2 Burgis, B. (June 2023). "Israelism Is a Powerful Indictment of Pro-Apartheid Indoctrination". Jacobin.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Schuessler, Jennifer (16 November 2023). "Hunter College Pulls Screening of Film Critical of Israel". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Suissa, D. (6 June 2023). "The Film “Israelism” Assaults the Truth and Hurts Palestinians". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  11. 1 2 Beattie, Samantha (2023-11-30). "Hamilton theatre cancels film critical of Israel, board says it's the wrong time to 'court controversy'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  12. ↑ "Cancelled Film on Israel Deprives a NY Campus of Important Conversation Amid Crisis". PEN America. 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  13. 1 2 Schuessler, Jennifer (2023-11-29). "Hunter College Reschedules Screening of Film Critical of Israel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  14. ↑ AAUP Penn (2023-11-28). "Urgent Message: MEC 11/28 Film Screening and Further Threats to Academic Freedom". AAUP–Penn. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  15. ↑ Snyder, Susan (2023-11-29). "Penn students who screened film on Israel could face discipline". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  16. ↑ Beattie, Samantha (2023-12-02). "The show will go on: Hamilton theatre reverses decision to cancel film critical of Israel". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
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