- 25/06/2025
Um documentário que mostra como o espírito da solidariedade e da empatia com o sofrimento dos povos oprimidos é capaz de brotar entre a juventude, mesmo diante de circunstâncias de grandes dificuldades.
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00:02:54Coming into Palestine for the first time, I remember asking people,
00:02:57What do you think? Should I do it?
00:02:59And the response that I always got was, you know, you're going to be killed.
00:03:03As a curious young person, like, what is this thing that is so horrifying that you can't bear to let me see it?
00:03:19Like, is it that bad?
00:03:30I found in the depths of my family's house.
00:03:51I found some of my Hebrew textbooks from elementary school.
00:04:01Yisrael Shel Simcha, My Israel.
00:04:05Congratulations to Simone Zimmerman for winning the Israel Jubilee Contest.
00:04:11February 1998. I was seven.
00:04:14I had, like, a pretty traditional Jewish upbringing. I grew up in L.A.
00:04:21I went to a Jewish day school, kindergarten through the end of high school.
00:04:27I went to Jewish youth group, Jewish camp.
00:04:31I have family in Israel. I lived in Israel in high school on an exchange program.
00:04:35Israel was just treated like a core part of being a Jew.
00:04:46So you did prayers and you did Israel.
00:04:48Israel is something that I feel so passionately about.
00:05:05Like, it's, you know, it's my greatest passion.
00:05:09Everything Israel.
00:05:11I became a Jewish educator after my daughter started Hebrew school.
00:05:18I started teaching second grade.
00:05:20During the years, I did fourth grade also.
00:05:24And just to be able to start them on this wonderful journey.
00:05:30I mean, it gets in your blood.
00:05:34And we teach Israel at the day school very well.
00:05:38We introduce them to the food and to the music and to the culture,
00:05:42in addition to the history and the geography.
00:05:44Figure out which one is the Israeli flag.
00:05:50Draw a circle around every time you see the symbol of the state of Israel.
00:05:54Draw your own symbol of the state of Israel.
00:05:58We also celebrated holidays, obviously.
00:06:01So Hanukkah, Israeli independence, all of it together.
00:06:06Can you separate Israel in Judaism?
00:06:08I don't know.
00:06:09I can't.
00:06:10You know, some people I think can.
00:06:11To me, it's the same.
00:06:12You know, you can't separate it.
00:06:14Israel is Judaism, and Judaism is Israel.
00:06:17And that is who I am, and that is my identity.
00:06:20And I think every single thing that I experienced along my life
00:06:24has melded into that.
00:06:25Like, there was never, you know, a divide for me.
00:06:28I grew up in a conservative Jewish household in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:06:39Israel was a central part of everything we did in school.
00:06:44My elementary and middle school, as well as my high school,
00:06:52both had organized trips to Israel,
00:06:54which was touted as one of the most important things you could do.
00:06:59Do you want to go to Israel, too?
00:07:01Yeah!
00:07:02When I visited Israel for the first time when I was eight years old,
00:07:16I put a note in the Kotel, in the Western Wall,
00:07:19saying that one day I hope to live in Israel and prosper.
00:07:23Every one of our kids should be going over, not for ten days,
00:07:32but for a minimum of a semester or a year.
00:07:36Every time I send somebody over to Israel, they come back,
00:07:39all of a sudden, they feel totally different about who and what they are as Jews.
00:07:44When I was a teenager and I went to Israel,
00:07:48it was amazing to me to travel in this place
00:07:51where Hebrew was a language that I finally got to speak on the street with people
00:07:55and where Jewish heroes, the streets were named after them.
00:08:01We're planting seeds that eventually are going to blossom.
00:08:06Does the average congregant understand that I'm teaching them to become Zionists?
00:08:15Probably not, but it is part of my madness, so to speak.
00:08:22I learned about Israel as this great miracle of Jewish history.
00:08:26For thousands of years, we were persecuted,
00:08:29and Israel is the place that you can go to be safe.
00:08:31My grandfather's family made it to Israel.
00:08:37His immediate family were some of the only ones who escaped the Holocaust.
00:08:44Many American Jews, if not most people I know,
00:08:47have family or friends that live in Israel.
00:08:52Israel is the insurance policy.
00:08:55It's still today a Jew doesn't have to worry.
00:08:58Where is he going to go, God forbid?
00:09:00Even here.
00:09:01No Holocaust survivor will say to you, it could never happen again.
00:09:07Oh, I was born in Poland, 1940.
00:09:10Not a good place for a Jewish kid to be born.
00:09:20My parents were separated.
00:09:22My father went through a series of camps.
00:09:24And so Israel became very, very significant in my life, even though 6,000 miles away.
00:09:42I probably visited Israel over a hundred times in my lifetime.
00:09:46You know, as we sit now, my granddaughter is there for two weeks in high school.
00:09:51I did have many friends in Israel growing up, and every time I would visit Israel, I felt closer and closer.
00:10:01The Jewish summer camps would always bring a big contingency of Israelis to try to drive Israeli culture within the camp and connect the American Jews to Israeli culture.
00:10:24So when I was in high school, I went on this Jewish youth trip to Israel, and one of the programs we did was called Kadna, where we spent a day pretending to be soldiers in the Israeli army.
00:10:38We wore army uniforms, and stuff like that was just sort of a normal part of what our childhood looked like.
00:10:54At summer camp, in the middle of the night, they would wake us up and take us out.
00:10:59Sometimes that was to pull pranks, and other times, I remember doing military games, using the command Pazazda, sneaking around.
00:11:11So any time the commander, who was one of our counselors, said Pazazda, we would all get on the ground, and they made a game out of it.
00:11:21Simulating being in the military, and sneaking around, and having to be a part of that.
00:11:29On youth programs that I participated in, in Israel, you could spend a whole week on an Israeli army base, wearing army uniforms, and going through a sort of simulation of basic training.
00:11:42And that's where some people, you know, learn to shoot guns for the first time.
00:11:48It's not just regular military games, it's specifically using Israeli military commands, often with Israeli counselors giving them.
00:11:59When you're a young kid, that really drills it into you, that this is something important.
00:12:05And I wanted to be a part of that.
00:12:08We often talked about the ways that you could be a good supporter of the Jewish people.
00:12:13One was to join the army.
00:12:16And the other was to go become an Israel advocate.
00:12:19There were even clubs within school to work on advocating for Israel.
00:12:29My high school sent a delegation to the AIPAC conference.
00:12:33AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
00:12:36They're the people who tell the Congress which legislation affecting Israel they like, and which they don't.
00:12:41The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable today, unbreakable tomorrow, unbreakable forever.
00:12:51AIPAC is just the thing that you do.
00:12:56Like going to the AIPAC conference is just sort of seen as like a community event.
00:13:01Here with us today are leaders from across the pro-Israel community, including Abe Foxman.
00:13:13I learned a long time ago, there is no way you can say no to Abe.
00:13:19You know, I don't know to what extent anybody makes a difference.
00:13:24I try to make a difference.
00:13:25Jewish education is still a major priority for the future, and certainly relationship to Israel.
00:13:37If you were to ask me, you had $100 million.
00:13:40How would you change the future of American Jews?
00:13:44I would make trips to Israel available to any Jewish kid who wanted to go.
00:13:49Make that experience.
00:13:50They're doing it now.
00:13:51It's called Birthright.
00:13:55It is up to you to be our soldiers abroad, armed with love and knowledge and conviction,
00:14:18ready to sway public opinion in Israel's favor.
00:14:22Learning about the quote-unquote conflict is something that is part of programming as something
00:14:31that you have to learn how to defend Israel from the lies that other people are saying,
00:14:36and you have to be able to tell people the truth.
00:14:38By the time I got to college, I had teachers who said to me,
00:14:49people hate Israel, people are attacking Israel, people don't know the truth about Israel,
00:14:52and we're the only people who actually know the truth about Israel.
00:14:58If you're a Jewish college student, Hillel is your central address for Jewish life on campus.
00:15:03As a freshman, I remember walking into Hillel was one of the first places I went when I got to campus.
00:15:08It's a place where you can go for meals to meet other young Jewish people.
00:15:14Pro-Israel advocacy is a central part of how they work to engage Jewish young people.
00:15:20I'm the director of engagement and programs here at Hillel.
00:15:28And this campus happens to be very proactive for Israel.
00:15:33A lot of people are very passionate, a lot of people love Israel,
00:15:35and there's a lot of advocacy here on campus in lots of different ways, lots of different groups.
00:15:41How did you become involved in advocacy for Israel?
00:15:44I kind of came to Hillel just because I was new on campus.
00:15:47I didn't really know where to go, and I really did find a lot of friends here.
00:15:52I came here on and off, but then when I went on the Birthright trip
00:15:55and kind of got to know the staff, Tom and Jackie a lot better,
00:15:59got to know people at Hillel a lot better, and just got to know Israel a lot better,
00:16:02I came back and I knew that I wanted to put a lot more of myself into Hillel,
00:16:07the Jewish community on campus, and just Israel advocacy in general.
00:16:11On Birthright, we had Israeli soldiers with us throughout the entire trip.
00:16:14You learn so much, and you learn the reason that they serve.
00:16:19It's just a feeling that I don't think any of us could ever imagine except for Dougie.
00:16:25My job is doing an Israeli program on campus,
00:16:28and that relates to Jewish events, cultural, political.
00:16:33Sorry, Israeli events, cultural, political.
00:16:36I would say, name a university in America.
00:16:39We probably have a person there.
00:16:43I like to talk about the Army a lot because that's an experience that I lived through,
00:16:48and I have a lot of personal stories.
00:16:51There are a couple of students who say,
00:16:53yeah, I'm thinking about joining the IDF one day.
00:16:55So, my first thing is saying to them,
00:16:58are you sure?
00:16:59Because it's not an easy decision.
00:17:05That being said,
00:17:06it will probably end up being the most meaningful experience that you ever go through.
00:17:11You're going to tell your kids' stories about it.
00:17:14Yes.
00:17:15One of our former young emissaries just graduated into the Air Force,
00:17:23and that's the greatest gift you can give.
00:17:26You know, and we actually have had quite a few of our former students join the IDF.
00:17:31Amazing.
00:17:32I mean, just amazing.
00:17:33These are kids.
00:17:34These are 18, 19-year-olds.
00:17:36It's like something I've dreamed about doing since I was seven years old.
00:17:39You have like a, you find your sense of purpose.
00:17:41All my friends are so proud of me,
00:17:43and they understand that this is something that, like, I have to do.
00:17:48Almost 10% of my graduating class at my Jewish high school
00:17:51joined the Israeli army.
00:17:55And I had many friends from my summer camp and youth group
00:17:58who joined the army as well.
00:18:04Part of becoming part of Israeli society is to join the military.
00:18:10When I was in high school,
00:18:12I told my parents I don't even need to apply to college
00:18:14because I'm going to just join the Israeli military
00:18:18and make aliyah and live in Israel.
00:18:20I honestly have felt for many years that I fit in better in Israeli society
00:18:28than I do in American society, even before I moved there.
00:18:33And I wanted to defend what I saw as my country.
00:18:36So when I enlisted, I was a magist, which is a heavy machine gunist,
00:18:45during my basic and advanced training,
00:18:48and then they put me on a light machine gun.
00:18:50training for strategy to conquer hilltops and conquer open spaces.
00:19:05One week was focused on urban warfare in close quarters,
00:19:11and that was simulated in what looked like Arab housing.
00:19:17After the seven months of our training,
00:19:22we were deployed to the West Bank.
00:19:24Our missions included working in two different checkpoints,
00:19:41patrolling villages on foot in full gear and bulletproof vests.
00:19:44We would go into apartment buildings,
00:19:49go up to the roof,
00:19:50and make sure that we could be seen
00:19:53so that we could make our presence felt.
00:19:59We wanted them to know that we were watching.
00:20:02That was the goal of the mission.
00:20:07We would set up what's called a checkpost,
00:20:09which is a checkpoint that is situated at a major intersection.
00:20:18At checkpoints, we would stop people,
00:20:21create a traffic jam,
00:20:24check their IDs, check their trunks,
00:20:26every day on their way to work
00:20:29or on their way to visit their family,
00:20:31to keep them on their toes, essentially,
00:20:36and they being Palestinians.
00:20:39Even though Israel was a central part
00:20:48of everything we did in the school,
00:20:51we never really discussed the Palestinians.
00:21:00It was presented to us
00:21:02that Israel was basically an empty wasteland.
00:21:06When the Jews arrived,
00:21:08there were some Arabs there, they said,
00:21:10but there was no organized people.
00:21:13They had really treated the land poorly.
00:21:15Yeah, there are Palestinians,
00:21:19and they just want to kill us all
00:21:21and want us to leave the land.
00:21:23I just don't think I had any conception of anything
00:21:30about what it means to be a Palestinian,
00:21:33besides that it means that you're a person
00:21:36who kills Jews or wants to kill Jews.
00:21:40It was always presented to us
00:21:43and that the Arabs only knew terrorism.
00:21:51Ever since I came back from the States,
00:21:53I realized that the best way
00:21:55to help people understand the reality
00:21:58imposed on us by the State of Israel
00:22:00is for them to be there.
00:22:02The one thing that I want to give the rest of my life for
00:22:08is to help people understand the reality
00:22:10that is going on in Palestine.
00:22:14I grew up all of my life in this occupation.
00:22:18I grew up in Bethlehem, in Palestine.
00:22:23To be honest, I do have my days
00:22:24where I wake up and look in the mirror
00:22:26and ask what is going on
00:22:27and what can I even do today
00:22:29to change anything in the situation.
00:22:33I remember from the youngest age growing up
00:22:35with my parents always warning me,
00:22:38always telling me not to go out,
00:22:40not to go on the street,
00:22:41not to play on the street
00:22:42because of the soldiers and the settlers.
00:22:44Of course, like your first experience
00:22:46with a soldier is terrorizing,
00:22:50you know, especially because they
00:22:51would invade your house
00:22:53or your family's house late at night.
00:22:55They love to work after midnight.
00:22:58My first experience with soldiers
00:23:00as a child was an experience
00:23:02that put fear in me.
00:23:07An American Jewish soldier
00:23:10talking to my father
00:23:11and yelling at him and shouting at him,
00:23:13which, of course, as a child,
00:23:14you feel very ashamed and insulted.
00:23:17And then my father,
00:23:19because ironically we are
00:23:20American citizens as well,
00:23:22turned to him in an American accent
00:23:24and asked him where he was from.
00:23:26And then the soldier was almost like shocked
00:23:29by this question
00:23:30because for his mind,
00:23:33you know, he wants to say
00:23:33Israel and Jewish people,
00:23:34but he's talking to an American now.
00:23:36And he told him like from Chicago.
00:23:39And then just this reality
00:23:41that like even as a child,
00:23:42I remember this American soldier
00:23:45who just moved here
00:23:46to be part of an army
00:23:47to play cowboys and Indians.
00:23:49somebody who comes here
00:23:52from New York or from Chicago
00:23:53and claiming that this land is theirs.
00:23:59What makes like an 18-year-old American kid
00:24:02who was given a 10-day trip for free
00:24:05in Palestine,
00:24:07what made them want to come in
00:24:09and sacrifice his life?
00:24:11Why would a foreigner
00:24:12think it's okay
00:24:15to have superior rights
00:24:17to the rights
00:24:17of the indigenous population
00:24:19because somebody told them
00:24:21it's home.
00:24:25This is our land.
00:24:27This is ours.
00:24:28That's what was conveyed to us.
00:24:33It got to me that
00:24:34people look at Palestine
00:24:36and Palestinians
00:24:37from the point of view
00:24:38of the oppressor.
00:24:39Not from the point of view
00:24:43of the oppressed.
00:24:46I think what I knew
00:24:48about who was in Israel
00:24:50before the state was created
00:24:52is basically
00:24:52there were some Jews
00:24:55always there.
00:24:55Most Jews were in exile.
00:24:56We'd always yearn to go back.
00:25:03The idea that there were
00:25:05native inhabitants
00:25:05that lived there
00:25:07was not even part
00:25:09of my frame of reference.
00:25:10This is part of my frame of reference.
00:25:10This is part of my frame of reference.
00:25:39Essa restaurante faz o mais gostoso de humus e chalafu na cidade.
00:26:01Essa família não é da cidade de Batlã.
00:26:04Como a família minha mãe, eles foram expulsos da cidade de Fiafá em 1948.
00:26:09Eu nasci para uma família de vítimas da etnia de palestina.
00:26:18A etnia de palestina foi levada por os fundadores do Estado de Israel.
00:26:23Minha mãe foi expulsada da cidade maior palestina pré-1948, que era a cidade de Fiafá.
00:26:32Meu pai era uma nova vida naquela época.
00:26:37Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:26:39Eles acabaram em Batlã, esperando para os atrocidades chegaram para o fim.
00:26:44Então, eles poderiam ir para casa.
00:26:46Então, eles poderiam ir para casa.
00:26:49Então, eles poderiam ir para casa.
00:26:52Meu pai era em Jerusalém até 1948.
00:27:00Quando a guerra aconteceu, ele foi tirado por um sniper e foi matado no lugar.
00:27:06Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:08Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:09Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:11Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:16Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:18Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:20Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:24Ele foi levado por sua família.
00:27:27mass exodus percentage-wise
00:27:29of a people from their land
00:27:31in modern history.
00:27:34The ethnic cleansing of Palestine,
00:27:37the term Nakba,
00:27:39the catastrophe,
00:27:42is the tragedy or catastrophe
00:27:44that hit almost every single
00:27:46Palestinian family, nearly 750,000
00:27:49victims.
00:27:51It's traumatizing
00:27:52in almost every possible level.
00:27:57Nearly 78%
00:28:04of the land of Palestine
00:28:07became under the control
00:28:08of the state of Israel.
00:28:12What else was I told about Israel?
00:28:14We were told
00:28:15it was a land without a people,
00:28:17for people without a land,
00:28:18and we came back.
00:28:21From the ashes of the Holocaust,
00:28:23the state of Israel was birthed.
00:28:27The rights of the people
00:28:30that lived here
00:28:31does not exist in that narrative,
00:28:33and other than us being an obstacle,
00:28:35the Nakba continues.
00:28:37It started in 1948
00:28:38and continues until this day.
00:28:40In 1967,
00:28:51the state of Israel
00:28:52managed to complete
00:28:54its control over Palestine
00:28:56by taking over
00:28:57the territory of the West Bank
00:28:59and the territory of Gaza.
00:29:00Okay, here's the good stuff.
00:29:06More maps of greater Israel.
00:29:10That's just sort of, you know,
00:29:11the whole land.
00:29:12We're always taught
00:29:13that the whole land was ours.
00:29:16I mean, you know,
00:29:17that's sort of what they teach you.
00:29:18After the 1967 war,
00:29:24Israel put a very forceful,
00:29:28very violent military force
00:29:30to dominate and control
00:29:32the lives of the Palestinians
00:29:33that continues until this day.
00:29:35The intention of Israeli control
00:29:54over the land of Palestine
00:29:56is complete colonization
00:30:00of the territory.
00:30:03Building homes
00:30:04for those who were born
00:30:05to Jewish families
00:30:06and also demolishing the homes
00:30:10of those who were born
00:30:11for Palestinian families.
00:30:18Palestinians kicked out
00:30:19from their homes,
00:30:20confiscated by settlers.
00:30:23You are stealing my house!
00:30:25And if I don't steal it,
00:30:26someone else is going to steal it.
00:30:27No, no one is allowed
00:30:28to steal it, your mommy.
00:30:31A massive movement
00:30:32to confiscate land,
00:30:34to build settlements,
00:30:35to expand settlements.
00:30:38Before we were even fully trained,
00:30:40we were deployed
00:30:41to protect settlements.
00:30:44It was all for the security
00:30:46of the settlements.
00:30:55Israel filled the occupied West Bank
00:30:57with Jewish Israelis
00:30:57living in different colonies
00:30:59and settlements
00:30:59throughout the region.
00:31:02And those individuals
00:31:04are subject to Israeli civil law.
00:31:07While you have Palestinians
00:31:08living within the exact same territory,
00:31:10they are subject
00:31:11to an Israeli military law.
00:31:16When an American citizen
00:31:17comes here,
00:31:19he has more rights
00:31:21than I would have
00:31:24my entire life.
00:31:42We are in the
00:31:43quote-unquote West Bank.
00:31:45We're in the
00:31:46quote-unquote settlements.
00:31:47This is one of the roadblocks
00:31:51that kind of ensured
00:31:53that cars get checked
00:31:55to see that no terrorists
00:31:56are coming in.
00:32:00I lived in America,
00:32:02and then I came back
00:32:02to Israel by myself
00:32:03at the age of 17
00:32:04to serve in the army.
00:32:07And there are elements,
00:32:08what I would call
00:32:09the jihadist elements,
00:32:10that don't accept
00:32:10our presence here.
00:32:12But it's just tough for them.
00:32:14It's a great vision
00:32:15coming to fruition
00:32:16in our time.
00:32:17and there's nothing
00:32:18going to stop us.
00:32:35From the day you are born,
00:32:37you live in day in,
00:32:39day out,
00:32:40day in, day out,
00:32:41without experiencing
00:32:42a day of freedom.
00:32:43Palestinians have to be forced
00:32:49to live in cages.
00:32:54So I'm Israeli,
00:32:57born and raised.
00:32:59As a young Israeli growing up,
00:33:01my grandparents lived
00:33:02in the center of Jerusalem.
00:33:05The battle for Jerusalem,
00:33:07at least 26 people
00:33:08are reported dead.
00:33:09people I knew were injured
00:33:12and killed.
00:33:14And from a very young age,
00:33:16I knew I'm going to be
00:33:16joining the military.
00:33:20I was never in a Palestinian house
00:33:22till I barge into one
00:33:24in the middle of the night.
00:33:25One of the things that I did
00:33:34routinely was a mission
00:33:35where you are ordered
00:33:36to take over
00:33:38a Palestinian family's home
00:33:40and use that house
00:33:41as a military point.
00:33:43no warrant.
00:33:45You don't call in advance.
00:33:47It's a military occupation.
00:33:49And during my service,
00:33:50there were many moments
00:33:51where I saw myself
00:33:54acting violently
00:33:55and there were moments
00:33:58of shame.
00:34:06We can detain
00:34:07any Palestinian
00:34:08just because he looked at us
00:34:10in the wrong way.
00:34:11That's a system
00:34:12that's based
00:34:13on violence.
00:34:15Oh, oh, oh, oh.
00:34:17What are you doing?
00:34:19Check it.
00:34:19I don't want to!
00:34:20I don't want to!
00:34:21Check it!
00:34:21Check it!
00:34:22Check it!
00:34:23You're screwed!
00:34:23I don't want to!
00:34:24I don't want to!
00:34:24We have a security matter, you know?
00:34:30It's security.
00:34:31It's about security.
00:34:32Is this security?
00:34:33I don't know.
00:34:33We'll see.
00:34:34Is this a threat for you?
00:34:35I don't know yet.
00:34:41When I was stationed
00:34:49in the West Bank,
00:34:50one day,
00:34:51one of my commanders
00:34:52came and grabbed me
00:34:53and one other soldier
00:34:54and said,
00:34:55there is a detainee
00:34:57at the Huala checkpoint
00:34:59and we need to go pick him up
00:35:01and bring him
00:35:02to the detention center
00:35:03that's in the base.
00:35:04When we got there,
00:35:07the Palestinian detainee
00:35:09who was maximum
00:35:11in his early 20s
00:35:12was sitting on the curb
00:35:14with his hands tied
00:35:15behind his back
00:35:16with zip ties
00:35:17and blindfolded.
00:35:21We got to the detention center
00:35:24within the base
00:35:24and right outside
00:35:25there were about eight soldiers
00:35:26waiting for us.
00:35:30They saw us come.
00:35:32They grabbed the detainee
00:35:34from our hands
00:35:35and threw him
00:35:36to the ground
00:35:37while he's still blindfolded
00:35:39and hands tied
00:35:40behind his back
00:35:40and they started
00:35:42kicking him
00:35:42for a good few minutes.
00:35:47I was responsible
00:35:48for this man's
00:35:49well-being.
00:35:53I was responsible
00:35:55to bring him
00:35:56from the checkpoint
00:35:58to the detention center.
00:35:59That was my job
00:36:00and right outside
00:36:02the fence
00:36:02of the detention center
00:36:03they grabbed him
00:36:04from me
00:36:04and they started
00:36:05beating him.
00:36:06I felt responsible
00:36:10but my commander
00:36:13wasn't saying anything
00:36:15so how could I say anything?
00:36:17The entire time
00:36:18that this was happening
00:36:19a military police officer
00:36:21was standing
00:36:22just inside the fence
00:36:23watching
00:36:24and smoking a cigarette.
00:36:25as soon as
00:36:28these guys
00:36:28were done
00:36:29kicking this
00:36:30Palestinian man
00:36:31the military police officer
00:36:34tossed his cigarette
00:36:35he came
00:36:35brought him inside
00:36:36the detention center
00:36:37and I didn't even speak up.
00:36:45I didn't speak up.
00:36:47and that's just one
00:36:50of many stories
00:36:52that I have
00:36:53from my time
00:36:54in the West Bank.
00:36:59It took many years
00:37:01for me to really
00:37:01come to terms
00:37:02with my part in it.
00:37:09Only after I got
00:37:10out of the army
00:37:11did I begin
00:37:12and to realize
00:37:13that the stuff
00:37:15that I did
00:37:16in the day-to-day
00:37:17just working
00:37:18in checkpoints
00:37:19patrolling villages
00:37:20that in and of itself
00:37:22was immoral.
00:37:27Palestinians in the West Bank
00:37:29even though their lives
00:37:30are controlled
00:37:30by the state of Israel
00:37:31from morning
00:37:32noon and night
00:37:33are not even theoretically
00:37:34citizens of the country
00:37:36in which they live.
00:37:37you see in some ways
00:37:40what non-democracy
00:37:42looks like up close.
00:37:46When people look
00:37:46at the West Bank today
00:37:47and say
00:37:48this is an apartheid system
00:37:49it's not just
00:37:50throwing out a word.
00:37:52A Palestinian lives
00:37:53under a different
00:37:54legal system
00:37:55than an Israeli settler
00:37:56living next door.
00:37:57Anyone who
00:38:10sees these facts
00:38:12on the grounds
00:38:12or speaks to Palestinians
00:38:14would understand
00:38:15that this is a process
00:38:16of settler colonization
00:38:17of an apartheid regime.
00:38:20I remember
00:38:21crossing that checkpoint
00:38:22into Bethlehem
00:38:23and before this
00:38:24I had been very much
00:38:25opposed to ever using
00:38:26the word apartheid.
00:38:28But seeing this
00:38:28sort of night and day
00:38:29difference
00:38:29just by crossing
00:38:30this wall
00:38:31changed that for me
00:38:32in an instant.
00:38:48Serving in the Israeli army
00:38:50is obviously
00:38:51one way of supporting Israel
00:38:53but there's also
00:38:54another modern battle
00:38:55that is happening
00:38:56on campuses
00:38:57each and every single day
00:38:58and you are standing
00:39:00in the front of it
00:39:01and I mean
00:39:03the Israeli government
00:39:06the Israeli people
00:39:07thank you for that
00:39:08and that's why
00:39:08they put me here probably
00:39:10and I thank you for that.
00:39:12We need PR, love you.
00:39:14There's a lot of PR
00:39:15to be made.
00:39:18This university
00:39:19thank God
00:39:20is fairly apolitical
00:39:22but I've heard
00:39:24but I've heard
00:39:24all over the place
00:39:25how universities
00:39:26are these hotbeds
00:39:27of anti-Semitic
00:39:28and anti-Israel work.
00:39:35I remember
00:39:36very vividly
00:39:37I was sitting in my dorm room
00:39:38with a friend of mine
00:39:39we got a phone call
00:39:41that an anti-Israel bill
00:39:42was being introduced
00:39:43in the student government
00:39:44we bolted.
00:39:47On the way
00:39:47called our parents
00:39:48both got sent
00:39:50talking points
00:39:50and then
00:39:56we went into
00:39:57this student government
00:39:58meeting
00:39:59The student senate
00:40:16at the University
00:40:17of California
00:40:18Berkeley
00:40:18calling on campus
00:40:20officials
00:40:20to divest
00:40:21from companies
00:40:21that supply weapons
00:40:22that Israel uses
00:40:23in its occupation
00:40:24of the Palestinian territories.
00:40:27You are siding
00:40:27with the Palestinians
00:40:28on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
00:40:30there's just no question
00:40:31about it.
00:40:32I just knew
00:40:32it was this
00:40:33bad thing
00:40:35that I had to fight.
00:40:36It is anti-Semitism
00:40:38it is.
00:40:39You are trying
00:40:40to make me feel
00:40:41marginalized
00:40:41on my own campus.
00:40:44And I remember
00:40:45all of us going
00:40:46well
00:40:46you shouldn't boycott Israel
00:40:49because
00:40:49it's applying
00:40:50a double standard
00:40:51and you shouldn't
00:40:51boycott Israel
00:40:52because
00:40:53it's unfair
00:40:54to single out Israel.
00:40:55Please
00:40:56I beg of you
00:40:57I beg you
00:40:59please
00:40:59to have compassion
00:41:01and to remember
00:41:02that we are
00:41:03alienating students
00:41:04and I am
00:41:05devastated by this bill
00:41:06I am a human being.
00:41:09I still remember
00:41:10you have these
00:41:11Palestinian students
00:41:12who get up
00:41:12and said
00:41:13you know
00:41:13Jewish students
00:41:14you are
00:41:15crying about
00:41:17feeling silenced
00:41:18and marginalized
00:41:18you know
00:41:20my aunts
00:41:21and cousins
00:41:21didn't sleep
00:41:22for weeks
00:41:23while bombs
00:41:23were falling overhead
00:41:24in Gaza.
00:41:25What do you have
00:41:26to say to that?
00:41:26If divestment
00:41:27is hostile
00:41:28then where do we
00:41:29begin to describe
00:41:30the hostility
00:41:31of a military occupation?
00:41:34I was thrown
00:41:35into all these
00:41:35conversations
00:41:35where people
00:41:36were throwing around
00:41:36all these words
00:41:37that I'd never
00:41:38heard before.
00:41:39Occupation
00:41:40settlement
00:41:41apartheid
00:41:42ethnic cleansing
00:41:42I just never heard
00:41:44anyone use
00:41:44any of these terms
00:41:45before.
00:41:47I thought I knew
00:41:49so much about Israel
00:41:49but I didn't really
00:41:50know what anybody
00:41:51was talking about
00:41:51when they were
00:41:52talking about
00:41:52all these things.
00:41:59I remember
00:42:00coming to Hillel
00:42:01and saying
00:42:02why aren't we
00:42:02answering
00:42:03Palestinian students
00:42:04questions?
00:42:06I felt really
00:42:06embarrassed by it
00:42:08because mostly
00:42:08I felt like
00:42:09we weren't doing
00:42:09a good job
00:42:10refuting their
00:42:11arguments.
00:42:12Do we not have
00:42:13an actual
00:42:14counter-argument
00:42:15besides like
00:42:15rockets,
00:42:16double-standard
00:42:17anti-Semitism?
00:42:21People,
00:42:22people,
00:42:22I couldn't get
00:42:23an answer
00:42:23from anybody
00:42:24and that was
00:42:24really disturbing
00:42:25for me.
00:42:28I mean,
00:42:29there are these
00:42:29people called
00:42:30Palestinians
00:42:30who think
00:42:31that Israel
00:42:31wields all this
00:42:32power over
00:42:33their lives
00:42:33and don't have
00:42:35rights,
00:42:35don't have
00:42:36water.
00:42:38What,
00:42:39like literally
00:42:40what is this?
00:42:41How is this
00:42:42happening?
00:42:43How do I,
00:42:44how do I
00:42:44respond to
00:42:45it?
00:42:46People that
00:42:47have a problem
00:42:48with Israel,
00:42:49there's a good
00:42:49chance they're
00:42:51misguided in
00:42:51some way or
00:42:51another.
00:42:52Everyone have
00:42:53the freedom
00:42:53in Israel.
00:42:54You can have
00:42:55any religion.
00:42:56You can do
00:42:57whatever you
00:42:57want in Israel,
00:42:58but only in
00:42:59Israel in the
00:43:00Middle East.
00:43:00A lot of it,
00:43:01like a lot of
00:43:02it's a lot of
00:43:02misinformation.
00:43:04Some of it
00:43:04comes from
00:43:05misinformation,
00:43:07some of it
00:43:07comes from
00:43:08ignorance,
00:43:09some of it
00:43:09comes from
00:43:09lies.
00:43:11and it's
00:43:12very hard
00:43:12to deal
00:43:13with that
00:43:13in any
00:43:13kind of
00:43:14a positive
00:43:14way when
00:43:15they're coming
00:43:15from such
00:43:16a place
00:43:17of not
00:43:17understanding
00:43:18what the
00:43:18reality of
00:43:19the situation,
00:43:20when they
00:43:20just have
00:43:20this in
00:43:21their head,
00:43:22all this
00:43:22misinformation
00:43:23and all
00:43:23these lies.
00:43:25I mean,
00:43:25somehow,
00:43:26pro-Palestinian
00:43:27has become
00:43:27pro-social
00:43:28justice.
00:43:28I wanted
00:43:33to know
00:43:33answers from
00:43:34within my
00:43:34own community
00:43:35and nobody
00:43:36could answer
00:43:36those questions
00:43:37for me.
00:43:39How is it
00:43:40that I am
00:43:41like the best
00:43:41the Jewish
00:43:42community has
00:43:42to offer?
00:43:43I've been
00:43:43through all
00:43:43the trainings,
00:43:45all the
00:43:45programs,
00:43:45and I don't
00:43:46know what
00:43:46the occupation
00:43:46is.
00:43:47I don't
00:43:48know what
00:43:48the settlements
00:43:49are.
00:43:52Eventually,
00:43:53it got to
00:43:53a point where
00:43:54I found
00:43:54myself wanting
00:43:55answers to
00:43:56the questions
00:43:57that Palestinian
00:43:57students,
00:43:58were asking.
00:44:01And so,
00:44:01it led me on
00:44:02a process of
00:44:03trying to go
00:44:03figure those
00:44:04things out
00:44:04for myself.
00:44:08What is this
00:44:09thing that is
00:44:10so horrifying
00:44:10that you can't
00:44:11bear to let
00:44:11me see it?
00:44:18The summer
00:44:19after my
00:44:19freshman year,
00:44:20I went to
00:44:21Palestine and
00:44:22I knowingly
00:44:24crossed the
00:44:24line for the
00:44:25first time.
00:44:28I don't think I
00:44:45realized the
00:44:45extent to which
00:44:46what I would
00:44:47come to see on
00:44:48the ground would
00:44:49really shock me
00:44:50and horrify me.
00:44:51so if you
00:44:53look at your
00:44:53maps,
00:44:54we're standing
00:44:56again right
00:44:56before it's
00:44:58going to turn
00:44:59red just over
00:44:59here where the
00:45:00soldiers are
00:45:00standing.
00:45:03So just look
00:45:04behind you guys.
00:45:05This is a block
00:45:06of houses.
00:45:07The people living
00:45:07in all these
00:45:08apartments here
00:45:09were not allowed
00:45:09to walk on
00:45:10this main road.
00:45:11So this was
00:45:11like a red road,
00:45:13a sterilized road,
00:45:14and imagine if
00:45:14you're a family
00:45:15living here,
00:45:15you can't open
00:45:16the front door
00:45:16of your house
00:45:16and walk out.
00:45:17I'm listening
00:45:20to Palestinian
00:45:21students talking
00:45:22about what it
00:45:24was like being
00:45:25beaten at a
00:45:25checkpoint and
00:45:26sitting down with
00:45:28a Palestinian family
00:45:29and hearing their
00:45:31story about being
00:45:32displaced by
00:45:33Israeli settlers.
00:45:34And even when
00:45:39we fix the
00:45:40water wells
00:45:40and we
00:45:42try to
00:45:43cultivate the
00:45:43rainwater to
00:45:44come into the
00:45:45water wells,
00:45:46even those
00:45:46things are
00:45:47being attacked
00:45:47by the
00:45:48settlers.
00:45:49Either they
00:45:49throw stones
00:45:51in them,
00:45:51or they
00:45:52throw chemicals
00:45:53in them,
00:45:54or they
00:45:54throw dead
00:45:55animals in
00:45:56the wells.
00:45:59So he's
00:45:59saying,
00:45:59first he
00:46:00welcomes you
00:46:00and says,
00:46:02you know,
00:46:02thank you very
00:46:02much for
00:46:03coming,
00:46:03especially
00:46:04because you're
00:46:04Jewish.
00:46:06The area
00:46:07here is
00:46:08populated
00:46:09by
00:46:10Palestinian
00:46:10farmers.
00:46:12Supreme
00:46:13Court in
00:46:13Israel ruled
00:46:14that they're
00:46:15allowed to
00:46:15live in the
00:46:16caves that
00:46:16are here.
00:46:17They're not
00:46:17allowed to
00:46:18build anything.
00:46:20Today,
00:46:21the civil
00:46:22administration
00:46:22and the
00:46:23army came
00:46:23and demolished
00:46:24some of
00:46:25the tents
00:46:25here.
00:46:30Something
00:46:31is deeply
00:46:31wrong here
00:46:32and it's
00:46:32breaking my
00:46:33heart.
00:46:39What we've
00:46:40been told
00:46:40is that the
00:46:41only way
00:46:42that Jews
00:46:42can be
00:46:43safe is
00:46:43if
00:46:44Palestinians
00:46:44are not
00:46:45safe.
00:46:46And I
00:46:48guess the
00:46:49more I
00:46:49learned about
00:46:50that,
00:46:51the more
00:46:52I came to
00:46:53see that
00:46:53as a
00:46:56lie.
00:46:56Okay.
00:46:56so this
00:47:04is the
00:47:05checkpoint
00:47:05that
00:47:05divides
00:47:06Jerusalem
00:47:07from Bethlehem.
00:47:11Palestinians
00:47:12definitely
00:47:12cannot drive
00:47:13on this
00:47:13road.
00:47:14So you
00:47:15can see
00:47:15that we're
00:47:15basically
00:47:16driving
00:47:16with walls
00:47:18on both
00:47:18sides of
00:47:18us right
00:47:19now.
00:47:39You want to go
00:47:40to like the
00:47:40major square
00:47:41or where do you
00:47:41want to go?
00:47:42We're in your
00:47:42head, man.
00:47:43This is my
00:47:54barber.
00:47:57As someone
00:48:02who came to
00:48:03see Jerusalem
00:48:04or Tel Aviv
00:48:04as places
00:48:05that I should
00:48:05imagine as
00:48:06home, I
00:48:06remember
00:48:06coming into
00:48:08the West
00:48:09Bank for
00:48:09the first
00:48:09time and
00:48:10actually seeing
00:48:11this place
00:48:12as someone
00:48:12else's
00:48:13home.
00:48:14This is a
00:48:14normal place
00:48:15where people
00:48:15are just
00:48:16trying to
00:48:16live their
00:48:16lives.
00:48:20For me
00:48:20to get to
00:48:21Jerusalem,
00:48:21I have to
00:48:22think of
00:48:22first of
00:48:23all having
00:48:23the permit,
00:48:24getting to
00:48:25the checkpoint,
00:48:26waiting in
00:48:26lines for
00:48:27the checkpoint,
00:48:28getting to
00:48:28the soldiers
00:48:29at the
00:48:30checkpoint.
00:48:30The soldier
00:48:31might do
00:48:31anything to
00:48:32me at
00:48:32that point,
00:48:33including
00:48:33sending me
00:48:34back,
00:48:34and then
00:48:34crossing the
00:48:35checkpoint,
00:48:35and then
00:48:35having to
00:48:36take public
00:48:36transportation.
00:48:37It's just
00:48:38the fact
00:48:38that I
00:48:38cannot
00:48:38drive.
00:48:39As a
00:48:40Palestinian,
00:48:41I cannot
00:48:41drive in
00:48:42Jerusalem or
00:48:43anywhere in
00:48:43Israel.
00:48:44So we
00:48:44drove here
00:48:45today.
00:48:46And if I'm
00:48:47at home by
00:48:4710 p.m.
00:48:48and I get
00:48:48caught on
00:48:48the other
00:48:48side,
00:48:49then I
00:48:50could be
00:48:50detained,
00:48:51I could
00:48:51lose my
00:48:51permit for
00:48:52good,
00:48:53I could
00:48:53be put in
00:48:54prison,
00:48:55I could
00:48:55be beaten
00:48:57up by
00:48:58soldiers,
00:48:58who knows
00:48:58what will
00:48:59happen to
00:48:59me.
00:49:02Almost any
00:49:02rooftop you
00:49:03stand on
00:49:04in Bethlehem,
00:49:05you look one
00:49:06way or the
00:49:06other,
00:49:06you will see
00:49:07a settlement
00:49:08built around
00:49:09you.
00:49:13I started
00:49:13coming here
00:49:14in 2010.
00:49:15I heard you
00:49:15speak to a
00:49:16group about
00:49:16antisemitism and
00:49:17inherited trauma
00:49:18and started
00:49:20thinking a lot
00:49:21about what it
00:49:21means to
00:49:21challenge my
00:49:23community around
00:49:24the deep
00:49:25ingrained traumas
00:49:26that are
00:49:27totally stopping
00:49:28us from
00:49:29any sort of
00:49:30movement on
00:49:31this issue.
00:49:32My first
00:49:33learning experience
00:49:34was when I
00:49:36was invited to
00:49:36go to Auschwitz
00:49:37on a
00:49:38bearing witness
00:49:38retreat.
00:49:41I actually
00:49:42say in
00:49:43Auschwitz I
00:49:43discovered one
00:49:44of the main
00:49:44reasons why
00:49:45this conflict
00:49:45exists today,
00:49:46which is this
00:49:47inherited trauma
00:49:48that exists in
00:49:50the Jewish
00:49:50community where
00:49:51the feeling is
00:49:52that as Jews
00:49:53we're always
00:49:55attacked,
00:49:56we've always
00:49:56been attacked,
00:49:57we will always
00:49:58be attacked,
00:49:59and therefore
00:50:00the only way
00:50:00to maintain
00:50:01ourselves is
00:50:02to create
00:50:03this very
00:50:03suppressive
00:50:05security
00:50:06mechanism
00:50:07that would
00:50:08prevent
00:50:08this from
00:50:09happening
00:50:10again.
00:50:11I mean,
00:50:12that's what
00:50:12I learned.
00:50:13Yeah,
00:50:13that's what
00:50:14I heard.
00:50:17What is
00:50:18important for
00:50:19many of the
00:50:20Israeli Jews
00:50:21and the Jews
00:50:21from around
00:50:22the world
00:50:22we talk to
00:50:23is the
00:50:24simple
00:50:24recognition
00:50:25and
00:50:25acknowledgement
00:50:26of the
00:50:27story,
00:50:27and that
00:50:28story is
00:50:30where the
00:50:30healing work
00:50:31begins to
00:50:32happen.
00:50:32As an
00:50:38activist,
00:50:39I think
00:50:39for many
00:50:39activists,
00:50:40what keeps
00:50:41us going
00:50:41is our
00:50:42ability to
00:50:43be able
00:50:43to look
00:50:43towards
00:50:44the
00:50:44future.
00:50:47I really
00:50:48believe that
00:50:48there is
00:50:49an emerging
00:50:50awakening
00:50:50within the
00:50:51American
00:50:51Jewish
00:50:51community.
00:50:56I've
00:50:56had even
00:50:57some
00:50:57American
00:50:58Jews who
00:50:58come here
00:50:59and they
00:51:00say,
00:51:01we came
00:51:01to
00:51:01Israel
00:51:02and we
00:51:02left
00:51:02from
00:51:02Palestine.
00:51:07For
00:51:07American
00:51:08Jews
00:51:08coming
00:51:09here
00:51:09and
00:51:09listening
00:51:09to
00:51:10us
00:51:10and
00:51:10hearing
00:51:10us
00:51:10and
00:51:10seeing
00:51:11our
00:51:11humanity
00:51:11and
00:51:12understanding
00:51:13that we
00:51:13are not
00:51:14just out
00:51:14sitting in
00:51:15bunkers
00:51:15planning the
00:51:17next attack
00:51:17against
00:51:18Israelis,
00:51:19that we
00:51:19do have
00:51:20a desire
00:51:20to live
00:51:20in peace
00:51:21and to
00:51:21have our
00:51:21freedom
00:51:22and to
00:51:22walk
00:51:23in our
00:51:23streets
00:51:23and eat
00:51:24in our
00:51:24restaurants
00:51:24and
00:51:25it's
00:51:26crazy
00:51:27that I
00:51:27have to
00:51:27say
00:51:28this,
00:51:28that we
00:51:28are real
00:51:29human
00:51:29beings
00:51:29that just
00:51:30want to
00:51:30survive
00:51:30and live
00:51:31in like
00:51:31all other
00:51:32people
00:51:32in this
00:51:33world.
00:51:36The moment
00:51:37they see
00:51:37this and
00:51:38experience
00:51:38this for
00:51:38themselves,
00:51:39it creates
00:51:40something in
00:51:40them,
00:51:41it shifts
00:51:41something in
00:51:41them.
00:51:44What they do
00:51:44with it when
00:51:45they go back,
00:51:46it becomes
00:51:47their
00:51:47responsibility.
00:52:00they go back
00:52:02to
00:52:02to
00:52:03them.
00:52:03I came
00:52:03home and
00:52:04spoke
00:52:04out.
00:52:05I think
00:52:06initially it
00:52:07was very
00:52:07painful and
00:52:08shocking for
00:52:08a lot of
00:52:09people.
00:52:11I had
00:52:11friends from
00:52:12high school
00:52:12and from
00:52:13college who
00:52:14didn't know
00:52:14how to
00:52:14speak to
00:52:15me at
00:52:15the beginning
00:52:15because these
00:52:16conversations
00:52:17were forbidden
00:52:17for us
00:52:18growing up.
00:52:18I've grown up
00:52:23very much
00:52:24as a product
00:52:25of this
00:52:26mass mobilization
00:52:27across the
00:52:28community to
00:52:29ensure that
00:52:29young people
00:52:30stay engaged
00:52:31in pro-Israel
00:52:31politics.
00:52:32for most
00:52:36people I know
00:52:37who actually
00:52:38took the time
00:52:39to see with
00:52:40their own eyes
00:52:40what was
00:52:41happening,
00:52:41it very
00:52:42quickly
00:52:43challenges
00:52:44everything we've
00:52:46been taught.
00:52:47It's very
00:52:48painful because
00:52:49it is so
00:52:50intimately bound
00:52:51up with the
00:52:52identity of
00:52:53the community.
00:52:57There have
00:52:58always been
00:52:59Jews who have
00:53:00spoken out for
00:53:01Palestinian rights
00:53:02and more
00:53:02and more
00:53:02people are
00:53:03willing to
00:53:04take off
00:53:05their blinders
00:53:05looking at
00:53:06this reality
00:53:07saying this
00:53:07is intolerable.
00:53:26I continue
00:53:27to meet more
00:53:28and more
00:53:28young people
00:53:29like me
00:53:29who are
00:53:29having
00:53:30similar
00:53:30experiences
00:53:31and it
00:53:35made me
00:53:35realize that
00:53:36I was part
00:53:37of a bigger
00:53:37story of
00:53:38something that
00:53:39was happening
00:53:39not just to
00:53:40me but to
00:53:41young people
00:53:42around the
00:53:42country.
00:53:45We decided
00:53:46to bring
00:53:47the crisis
00:53:48of American
00:53:49Jewish support
00:53:49from Israel
00:53:50to the
00:53:51doorsteps
00:53:51of Jewish
00:53:52institutions
00:53:53to force
00:53:54that conversation
00:53:54in public.
00:53:55first of all,
00:54:23all my friends
00:54:24at AIPAC
00:54:24stopped talking
00:54:24to me.
00:54:26I've lost
00:54:27many childhood
00:54:28friends over
00:54:29this.
00:54:29Also,
00:54:30many friends
00:54:30have come
00:54:31along politically
00:54:32with me over
00:54:33the years.
00:54:33Many in my
00:54:34family have
00:54:35also.
00:54:35Many in my
00:54:36family also
00:54:36deeply disagree
00:54:37with me.
00:54:43Every time I've
00:54:44protested outside
00:54:44of a Jewish
00:54:45communal event
00:54:46of some kind,
00:54:46I have seen
00:54:47a friend,
00:54:48a family friend,
00:54:49a parent of a
00:54:50friend on the
00:54:51other side of the
00:54:51barricade.
00:54:54We're literally
00:54:54talking about
00:54:55parents and
00:54:56children.
00:55:00Young Jews,
00:55:01they go to the
00:55:02Jewish federations,
00:55:03they go to the
00:55:04reform movement,
00:55:05they go to their
00:55:05day schools,
00:55:06and they say,
00:55:07you mobilized me
00:55:09to be a soldier
00:55:11for Israel,
00:55:12but I had been
00:55:13completely misled.
00:55:16We are also in a
00:55:18moment when there
00:55:18is the possibility
00:55:19of some kind of
00:55:21alternative.
00:55:23I see it hundreds
00:55:25of times over and
00:55:26over again, and
00:55:26those hundreds speak
00:55:28for thousands.
00:55:29And they went to
00:55:30the Jewish camps,
00:55:31and they went to
00:55:32the day schools,
00:55:32and they went to
00:55:33the synagogue Hebrew
00:55:34schools.
00:55:36They're really,
00:55:37really angry at the
00:55:38way they were
00:55:39educated and the
00:55:40way that they were
00:55:40indoctrinated about
00:55:43these issues, and
00:55:45justifiably so.
00:55:46the indoctrination is
00:55:49so severe, it's
00:55:51almost hard to have
00:55:53a conversation about
00:55:54it.
00:55:56It's heartbreaking.
00:55:58It is heartbreaking.
00:56:01Our community right
00:56:03now has to grapple
00:56:04with our complicity.
00:56:05And we want to welcome
00:56:07you to the Jewish
00:56:09protection.
00:56:13Jewish opinion is
00:56:15split.
00:56:16Some Jewish groups
00:56:17vocally oppose Israel's
00:56:19military policies.
00:56:21More than a thousand
00:56:22Jewish activists
00:56:23descended on Washington,
00:56:24D.C. Sunday to
00:56:25protest AIPAC.
00:56:26So we tell some of
00:56:28our more conservative
00:56:29brothers and sisters
00:56:30on the inside that
00:56:32you do not represent
00:56:34the best of the
00:56:35Jewish prophetic
00:56:36tradition, and we
00:56:37hear the bell
00:56:37with us.
00:56:41It's a new day now.
00:56:43You got a number of
00:56:45young Jewish brothers
00:56:46and sisters who are
00:56:47undergoing moral and
00:56:48spiritual awakening.
00:56:49They're deeply
00:56:49concerned about the
00:56:51suffering of
00:56:51Palestinians.
00:56:52They come from a
00:56:53people who have been
00:56:54hated, but they don't
00:56:56want to see the
00:56:56cycle of hate
00:56:57perpetrated even by
00:56:59Jews themselves.
00:57:03Israel has been
00:57:05part of my life
00:57:06since early childhood.
00:57:10Within the Jewish
00:57:11community, there's been
00:57:12a striking change.
00:57:14Israel is well aware
00:57:15of it.
00:57:17Human will and
00:57:19commitment can
00:57:20change things.
00:57:22My name is Talia.
00:57:23This is the first
00:57:24time I am using my
00:57:26full real name to stand
00:57:29in solidarity with
00:57:29Palestinians.
00:57:31And I never thought
00:57:33in my life that I
00:57:34would be standing with
00:57:34this many Jews for
00:57:35Palestine.
00:57:36I'm a rabbi.
00:57:38As long as
00:57:39Palestinian lives are
00:57:40treated as disposable,
00:57:42our house as a
00:57:43people is not in
00:57:44order.
00:57:48Tomorrow we show up
00:57:49and we march following
00:57:50the leadership of
00:57:51Palestinians.
00:58:08Congresswoman
00:58:09Rashida Talib.
00:58:10I am the only
00:58:11Palestinian-American
00:58:13member of Congress now.
00:58:14How many Palestinians
00:58:15have to die for their
00:58:17lives to matter?
00:58:19Life under apartheid
00:58:20strips Palestinians of
00:58:22their human dignity.
00:58:23How many more
00:58:24decades do they need to
00:58:25endure this subjugation
00:58:27before there is a shift
00:58:28in this unreasonable
00:58:29status quo?
00:58:31And what would you
00:58:32recommend?
00:58:33I would recommend
00:58:34freedom.
00:58:34The real challenge is
00:58:39trying to keep that
00:58:41moral and spiritual
00:58:43dimension strong.
00:58:45Free, free,
00:58:46Palestine!
00:58:48Because anytime you cut
00:58:49against the grain,
00:58:50you're going to catch
00:58:51hell.
00:58:53Free, free, Palestine!
00:58:54Free, free, Palestine!
00:58:56Free, Palestine!
00:58:57Free, Palestine!
00:58:58Free, Palestine!
00:59:04Anti-occupation Jews are blocking
00:59:20Damascus State.
00:59:21Anti-occupation Jews say
00:59:25Anti-occupation
00:59:26Israeli Jews say
00:59:28anti-lucky Bush.
00:59:29Anti-occupation Jews are
00:59:56the Great攻 matching
00:59:57made up to be okay they're they're entitled that's fine okay i don't think they represent much i think
01:00:04they're a little super naive i think to just most american jews even though they have different views
01:00:10on settlements or occupation i think that's still a decision at the end of the day they're going to
01:00:16leave for the israelis to make as long as israel is under threat and as strong as it is and as
01:00:23dynamic as it is it's still under threat from its neighbors and a hundred thousand missiles
01:00:30we postpone that philosophical debate to another time
01:00:36palestinians are so dehumanized in the community that it's really hard for
01:00:51people to figure out how to even understand palestinians legitimate rights and claims
01:00:58to the land palestinians gathered for protest at the israeli gaza border
01:01:04they're demanding the right to return to lands from which they were forced out in 1948
01:01:09at least 55 palestinians died monday during mass protests israeli troops fired on the demonstrators
01:01:18look at the more recent gaza demonstrations ask yourself the question if the mexicans stood at the
01:01:38border in march a million mexicans or twenty thousand mexicans and what would america do
01:01:43you know first they would try tear gas and then it was not and eventually would have to shoot
01:01:48there are a lot of jewish young people who see a jewish establishment that is racist that is
01:01:57nationalistic israelis in the mid middle east and not the midwest so the neighbors are not
01:02:04necessarily the jones or the smiths i don't want more but it's been imposed on us so we should do right
01:02:10and defeat the terrorists
01:02:12we don't want to be a part of that but we are actually building an alternative
01:02:20i've been involved in this work for about a decade
01:02:28i was seen as a face of this young growing jewish resistance to the american jewish establishment
01:02:37it made perfect sense to me that bernie would hire someone like me as a jewish outreach coordinator
01:02:44within about 48 hours of being on the campaign the attacks started rolling in
01:02:52these old men from the jewish establishment came out to say you know that i was dangerous that i was a
01:03:02threat a journalist wrote an article about me the headline was bernie sanders new jewish outreach
01:03:08coordinator is an outspoken critic of israeli occupation
01:03:12the next headline that i found out about when i walked into work was
01:03:20abe foxman calls on sanders to fire new jewish community liaison for quote anti-israel comments
01:03:26on thursday the sanders campaign suspended its new national jewish outreach coordinator
01:03:33simone zimmerman two days after she was hired
01:03:37so as far as i'm aware this was abe foxman's first comment in public since his retirement from the
01:03:46adl and uh he came out of retirement to defend the world from the great threat of simone zimmerman
01:03:54it hurts me for a jewish kid to stand up there and say justice for the palestinians and not saying
01:04:02justice for the israelis troubles me hurts me bothers me means we failed we failed in educating and
01:04:09explaining et cetera
01:04:10when we talk about we're losing the kids
01:04:16we're not we lost them
01:04:19birthright participants staged a protest walkout
01:04:24five of us will be keeping to learn about the occupation
01:04:27um from the perspectives of palestinians and idea soldiers
01:04:31thank you thank you very much
01:04:31you cannot be a tyrant on this
01:04:33i know no listen
01:04:34it's just
01:04:35go to palestine
01:04:36that's what
01:04:37that's what
01:04:37just go
01:04:38because guess what's going to happen
01:04:39we're going to get killed
01:04:40we're going to get raped
01:04:41we're seeing that
01:04:45many millennials are
01:04:47becoming disenchanted with israel
01:04:50and
01:04:51i take a very different approach on this
01:04:54i say to them
01:04:55we need to love israel even more
01:04:57it means that we who are the older generation have much more work to do
01:05:14this whole communal obsession with defending israel
01:05:19has basically warped into seeing someone like me as a threat to the community
01:05:25the word that i used to hear a lot was self-hating jew
01:05:29like the only way that a jewish person could possibly care about the humanity of palestinians
01:05:36is if you hate yourself
01:05:37let's see what i find in here
01:05:46you are a self-loathing jew
01:05:49go kill yourself
01:05:51with jews like jews like you who needs ignorant racist bigot arabs
01:05:55you work against our people you're an anti-semitic jew you've been working for the enemy
01:06:01simone zimmerman another member of the lunatic anti-semitic far left
01:06:06there's always been this argument of oh you can't criticize israel criticizing israel feeds anti-semitism
01:06:16criticizing israel helps the enemies of israel
01:06:19as more and more american jews are speaking out in support of palestinian freedom
01:06:25now they just say instead we're overt anti-semites we hate all jewish people or even worse that we're not jewish at all
01:06:32we are attacked as being not really jewish if we are not supportive of israel
01:06:39and that's where you start seeing just the blanket delegitimization
01:06:43of an entire sector of american jewish society
01:06:46focusing on this so-called new anti-semitism
01:06:51and then came the new anti-semitism which was the anti-semitism relating to israel
01:06:57what what some have said that israel became the jew of the nations
01:07:02in the same way that historically you know whatever was permitted for everybody else was not permitted for the jew
01:07:09now israel was singled out
01:07:11so many of the self-appointed leaders of our community have been trying to equate the idea of supporting palestinian rights
01:07:19itself with anti-semitism
01:07:21this is about anti-israel anti-semitic attitude
01:07:26classic new anti-semitism
01:07:27the extreme left has a long history of anti-semitism of anti-israel hatred
01:07:33how stupid have they been for all these years voting for obama and other anti-semites like him
01:07:39unwillingness to grapple with palestinian suffering
01:07:45is putting a lot of american jews in a really dangerous and sad position
01:07:50how far will jewish americans go
01:07:54in the effort to quash pressure on israel
01:07:58you know how far will people go
01:08:01it's hard to see how far they won't go if this is where things are today
01:08:05at the end of the day pro-israel leaders want to be in the room with the people in power
01:08:13they will do anything to preserve unconditional support for israel
01:08:20thank you
01:08:24when i become president
01:08:26the days of treating israel like a second-class citizen will end on day one
01:08:34history is not going to judge us kindly
01:08:40i'd like to say that we were blessed by heaven
01:08:45with donald trump being elected president of the united states
01:08:49we should pray that they should remain in office
01:08:53and that he should continue to do the great things he does
01:08:55on behalf of the united states of america
01:08:58and on behalf of israel
01:08:59we're seeing like a horrifying culmination of what support of israel at all costs
01:09:06has led to
01:09:07disregarding any lesson of history
01:09:11disregarding any sort of morality
01:09:13the great irony of having this be where we are today within the jewish community
01:09:23is that there actually is resurgent anti-semitism
01:09:26the kind that i think my generation and the generations that have come after me
01:09:30never thought we'd see in our lifetimes
01:09:33hail trump hail our people hail victory
01:09:38in the u.s a couple of things have been happening that will go to trump but trumpism
01:09:44it's not a question is he a bigot is he i don't think he's a bigot i think he is what he is
01:09:49i don't think he's a racist i don't think he's an anti-semit
01:09:52i think you can call him all kinds of things
01:09:55the community has spent so much time attacking anyone who criticizes israel when there are
01:10:04actual threats to our community
01:10:06that's led our communal institutions to basically be silent in the face of rising white nationalism
01:10:13the way that we talk about anti-semitism isn't about protecting jews it's about protecting israel
01:10:28how dangerous is that at this moment with the rise of anti-semitism
01:10:33and often when american politicians are asked about anti-semitism
01:10:42they talk about their support for israel
01:10:46support for israel today is actually replacing what it means to be a jew
01:10:53these people have basically decided that support for israel is more important than the safety of jews
01:11:01we're not going to say anything about the spreading of these anti-semitic conspiracy theories
01:11:07we have seen a tremendous amount of this use of vile anti-semitic tropes
01:11:13the thread talks about a jewish plot to enslave people in the united states
01:11:18anti-semitic flyers steeped in covid-19 conspiracies
01:11:21saying every single aspect of the covid agenda is jewish
01:11:26that's the way the jews work they're just they are deceivers
01:11:31they plot they lie they do whatever they have to do
01:11:36the gunman told a swat officer that he wanted all jews to die
01:11:47and that they were committing genocide against his people
01:11:50it's a profoundly sad moment and i think it's a tipping moment
01:12:06these anti-semitic nightmares that we all
01:12:12like it's all coming to life in front of our eyes
01:12:15i can't help but think about all the american jewish organizations that have spent the last decade
01:12:25pouring millions of dollars into smearing and marginalizing human rights advocates
01:12:32jewish palestinian and not trying to brand palestinian protest as anti-semitic
01:12:39when there were neo-nazis trying to kill us in our synagogues
01:12:45my parents and grandparents generation grew up in a world in which jews were not safe
01:12:55they invested so much in the idea that jews could only be safe through israel
01:13:03but our safety and our security is actually bound up in the safety and the security of all people
01:13:12the most powerful pro-israel lobby in the country are now donating money to republican politicians
01:13:20who either incited or continue to support the rioters who stormed the capitol on january 6th
01:13:27that's part of a politics of solidarity
01:13:33and it feels totally morally coherent and morally urgent to support freedom and dignity for all
01:13:40people in all the places that we live
01:13:42palestinians have already been telling us this for decades
01:13:50so guys here's the the world but the world is finally coming to catch up
01:13:58for me i would say if anybody has any influence on israeli policy and i say this with a big f
01:14:10it is the american jewish community the american jewish community have the potential
01:14:16to have the greatest influence in shifting our reality outside of this land
01:14:21for many people around the world when they see the voice
01:14:25of the jewish community rise and protest against this occupation
01:14:29it will allow other voices to say yes we could also have a voice in it as well
01:14:34now we're doing joint work in trying to end this occupation
01:14:39and bringing peace and justice into this land
01:14:41the most inspiring experiences i had are with jewish americans that come in and take a stand
01:14:50we're going to hear tonight a number of personal stories
01:14:57at some point you guys decided to quote unquote break the silence
01:15:03and i'm interested was there a particular moment that led you to this
01:15:07in 2008 i i joined the military
01:15:11in america we have this concept of innocent until proven guilty
01:15:14there is no innocent palestinian according to the army
01:15:18that's so not true in occupied territory
01:15:20quiet down please
01:15:22i mean come on you're lying that's a lie
01:15:25she said there's no
01:15:26it's not a lie
01:15:27what we're talking about is not giving palestinians the right that we of israelis have
01:15:33and that's apartheid
01:15:34to go against the grain is not an easy thing to do
01:15:39so i did not speak about my experiences in the occupation publicly until very recently
01:15:48i was afraid that i would be demonized
01:15:52i've seen friends of mine be demonized for speaking out about the same things
01:15:58the first time i ever spoke publicly about my experiences i cried the whole time that i was speaking
01:16:09it's gotten a little bit easier to talk about since then because i have taken the time to process it
01:16:18but that doesn't mean it's easy anytime i talk about these experiences
01:16:22but we can't wait any longer
01:16:27i've been longing for this jewish conversation for 17 years
01:16:45we're here today um to talk about some things that are often can feel impossible in the jewish community
01:16:54these conversations can happen we are not risking our jewish history
01:16:59you are not closing a door to the rest of your jewish life
01:17:02all that we have to risk is our denial
01:17:05i can start my high school had an israel studies class all about when you get to college
01:17:13and people start telling you about israel being an apartheid state this is how you respond
01:17:18from like summer camp and my youth movement one of the core tenets of it was the jewish state
01:17:23needed to be built and just no questioning of what price we were really willing to pay
01:17:28or willing to make palestinians pay as an israeli the palestinian identity itself is not something
01:17:35i had to learn that it exists right so slowly as i came to learn that the occupation exists
01:17:42i started learning that there is another narrative
01:17:45we're here to talk about the history that's often referred to as the nakba
01:17:50750 000 people displaced from their homes
01:17:55at least 400 villages undone in their entirety
01:17:59the colonization is also ongoing
01:18:03the ongoing nakba
01:18:05the continued not just the historical but the continued ethnic cleansing of palestinians
01:18:12i have been blessed to witness the ways that palestinian society continue to find ways to thrive
01:18:18but we can't deny that there has been catastrophe and that it's been catastrophic the scale of loss
01:18:23we're really here to teach each other but i think nothing's as important as action
01:18:29because we are talking about ongoing displacement
01:18:32people might tell you that if you stand up for palestinian rights that you aren't really jewish
01:18:39that you're maybe a self-hating jew
01:18:41as a rabbi what i see when i look at the work of solidarity is a long chain of jewish history
01:18:49this chain of people of ancestors and texts and traditions that are about justice and fighting for it
01:18:56jewish tradition tells us to envision a world where all people are safe and free
01:19:01to never stop fighting for that world
01:19:03so may you all feel blessed in a tradition of liberation
01:19:08and may you be blessed to know you're not alone
01:19:12and let's get to work
01:19:13light is returning
01:19:28even though this is the darkest hour
01:19:33no one can hold
01:19:35back the dawn
01:19:40light is returning
01:19:43even though this is the darkest hour
01:19:46no one can hold
01:19:50back the dawn
01:19:53light is returning
01:19:57even though this is the darkest hour
01:20:00no one can hold
01:20:02back the dawn
01:20:04light is returning
01:20:08even though this is the darkest hour
01:20:13no one can hold
01:20:16back the dawn
01:20:18light is returning
01:20:22light is returning
01:20:24even though this is the darkest hour
01:20:26even though this is the darkest hour
01:20:40no one can hold
01:20:42back the dawn
01:20:45light is returning
01:20:49even though this is the darkest hour
01:20:53no one can hold
01:20:55back the dawn
01:20:57back the dawn
01:20:59back the dawn
01:21:01back the dawn
01:21:03back the dawn
01:21:05back the dawn
01:21:07back the dawn
01:21:09back the dawn
01:21:11back the dawn
01:21:13back the dawn
01:21:15back the dawn
01:21:17back the dawn
01:21:19back the dawn
01:21:21Amém.
01:21:51Amém.
01:22:21Amém.
01:22:51Amém.
01:23:21Amém.
01:23:51Amém.
01:23:53Amém.
01:23:54Amém.
01:23:55Amém.
01:23:56Amém.
01:23:57Amém.
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