Tag Archives: zionism

Israelism

Two young American Jews – Simone Zimmerman and Eitan – are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military. Simone supports Israel on ‘the other battlefield:’ America’s college campuses. When they witness Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinian people with their own eyes, they are horrified and heartbroken.

They join the movement of young American Jews battling the old guard over Israel’s centrality in American Judaism, and demanding freedom for the Palestinian people. Their stories reveal a generational divide in the American Jewish community as more young Jews question the narratives their synagogues and Hebrew school teachers fed them as children.

Plan Andinia

Patagonia is one of the remotest regions in the world. It is situated in the southernmost point of South America and is shared by Argentina and Chile. Patagonia is not only a region of breath-taking beauty and vast natural resources, but also the region where, some people believe, a new Jewish state could be created. Those who believe that the writings of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, have been distorted reject this theory. In his book The Jewish State, published in 1897 Herzl talks about the need to create a nation for Jews, and talked about two possible sites: Argentina and Palestine. This fascinating documentary visits Patagonia and speaks to important representatives of the Jewish community as well as critics of Zionism in Argentina and Chile. Plan Andinia poses an important question: Is the creation of a Jewish state in Patagonia a conspiracy theory or a real possibility?

Tears of Gaza

Disturbing, powerful and emotionally devastating, Tears of Gaza is less a conventional documentary than a brutal record – presented with minimal gloss – of the bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military. Almost purely observational, this powerful film by director Vibeke Løkkeberg focuses on the impact of the attacks on the civilian population.

Photographed by several Palestinian cameramen both during and after the offensive, the film shuttles between the actual bombings and the horrific aftermath on the streets and in the hospitals. Løkkeberg contrasts these graphic scenes with footage of bachelor parties, weddings and visits to the beach – social activities that epitomize daily life in Gaza during more peaceful times.

Tears of Gaza makes no overriding speeches or analyses. The situation leading up to the incursion is never mentioned. Indeed, as one reviewer noted, this film ‘doesn’t take sides as much as obliterates politics’ and demands that we examine the costs of war on a civilian populace. The result is horrifying, gut-wrenching and unforgettable.

“Few antiwar films register with the disturbing immediacy and visceral terror of Tears of Gaza.”
John Andersen, Variety

“Perhaps the ultimate anti-war film. A compelling film about war.”
Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

“NYT CRITICS PICK: A brutally uncompromising blast of outrage.. Using extraordinary footage (Tears of Gaza) spotlights the extreme deprivation of life under a blockade and the physical and psychological wounds of war.. a tapestry of human misery impossible to shake off”
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

“Tears of Gaza documents air-delivered incendiary weapons and unimaginable violence.. identification with these people is not difficult”
Chris Packham, The Village Voice