“Israel: Ministers of Chaos”
“Ministers of Chaos,” profiling Itamr Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich,
takes a deep look at the tentacles of racism and ethnonationalism in today’s state of Israel.
Category: Culture
Reviews of films, books, visual arts, and other events
“No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip”
Barber tells of his trip to various schools throughout the Strip in 1995 to meet students. A young man implores him:
“Please go home and tell the world that we are not all terrorists.”
“Holding Liat”- Grief as a Microcosm of Politics
Three months later, the film accompanies Liat to Yad Vashem, where she leads her class through an exhibit on the Warsaw Ghetto. She focuses on the separation wall that divided the Jews from the Poles and the Germans. It obviously has a specific meaning for her.
“Blacklisted: An American Story” An Exhibit More Timely than Ever
“Political blacklists are a way of taking away people’s voices. If you are not allowed to participate or speak, no one can hear your ideas. You might lose friends, jobs, and your home. As you go through this exhibition, think about who is being allowed to speak and who is being silenced.”
Citizens of the Whole World: Delving into Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left
For many readers, the text will be a primer on unfamiliar names and coalitions, and the first “criticisms” of Zionism from the Jewish left in the 1930s and 1940s.
“Water for Life” – Fighting for Land Rights in Latin America
“Water for Life” tells of community leaders from three separate Latin American countries who banded together with other like-minded people to make a difference. Grassroots action creates positive change in the world.
“Postcards to Hitler:” A Story of Individual Resistance
Reading Postcards to Hitler: A German Jew’s Defiance in a Time of Terror during the first one hundred days of the Trump regime, it was impossible not to see the equivalencies to America and to feel inquietude at the parallels.
“There is Another Way” – Moving Toward Israeli-Palestinian Collective Liberation
A voiceover comments on Israelis and Palestinians. “We find that we actually have something in common. That willingness to kill people we don’t know.”
“From Ground Zero: Stories from Gaza”
The contrast between the utter destruction of decimated buildings with the beach and waves of the Mediterranean Sea is palpable. There is a metaphorical analogy between stark constriction and elusive freedom.
“The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe” The Importance of Gideon Levy’s Book
Levy last visited Gaza eighteen years ago, before the government prohibited Israeli journalists from entering. He had been a regular visitor from 1987 through 2006. His goal was to serve as an interlocutor on “life and death under Israeli occupation—where freedom and basic human rights were denied.”
