WEBVTT

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[mellow guitar music]

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- In 1981, I started the first
Jewish Film Festival in America

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here in San Francisco.

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Today there are dozens
all over the world.

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When I started,

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young Jews were rebelling
against Hollywood stereotypes,

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making films about everything,

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a wild variety of stories.

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Audiences were excited
and wanted to talk endlessly.

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It was fun
and full of passionate debate.

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- I first met Deborah when
she was starting the festival.

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I was a TV news producer,

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and our conversations
about Jewish identity,

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politics, and movies
never stopped,

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deepening over the years
into love

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and eventually filmmaking.

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- Alan and I
still return faithfully

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to the festival every year.

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Today it attracts 35,000 people.

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Many consider it one of their
favorite Jewish holidays.

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[cheers and applause]

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- Thank you for coming.
Good afternoon.

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I\'m Peter Stein.

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I\'m the executive director

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of the San Francisco
Jewish Film Festival.

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[cheers and applause]

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I always say when people say,
\"What makes a Jewish film?\"

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one of my answers is,
if it catalyzes a conversation

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that can be had fruitfully
and intelligently

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in a Jewish context,

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then it\'s worth showing.

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- But this time,
the festival showed one film

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that escalated the conversation

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to angry confrontation
and even civil war.

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It took us by surprise

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and sent us on a journey
to find out

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what\'s ripping
our community apart.

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And it made us delve
into our own family histories

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and secrets.

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- Have you seen the movie?

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- No.

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- Are you gonna go in
and see it?

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- Absolutely not.

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- The film at the center
of the battle

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was about Rachel Corrie,

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a young American activist
who went to Gaza

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to protest Israel\'s demolition
of Palestinian homes.

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She was crushed to death
by an Israeli bulldozer

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and became a martyr
for a wide spectrum of groups

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critical of Israel

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and the occupation
of Palestinian territories.

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- I knew right away that
programming the film \"Rachel\"

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was a bit of a risk

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that posed some difficult ideas
about Israel.

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I did not expect it to blow up
into the firestorm that it did.

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I started seeing stuff
flying across my computer screen

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that was really hateful.

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It was a campaign
basically saying

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\"You\'re staging
an anti-Semitic event.

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\"You are an anti-Semite.

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You are a useful fool.\"

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I think a lot of people
saw the festival

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as somehow being
the tool of forces

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that wish to undermine Israel.

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You know,
what do you say to that?

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A festival that presented
36 films from Israel this year,

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one of the largest showcases
of Israeli film in the country,

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is somehow there to undermine
the state of Israel?

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It\'s thought police

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in a way that I have not
experienced before.

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- It was a siege,

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much worse than anything
when I was at the festival.

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There was some hate mail then,

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but nothing like
this coordinated deluge

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of internet rage
from all over the world.

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- I\'m really disappointed
with the festival\'s decision

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to show this film.

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These do not reflect
my Jewish values,

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and these are outside
of the tent of involvement

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for the Jewish community.

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They should be.

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- You see, the thing is,

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who\'s defining
what is anti-Israel?

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Who\'s defining
what\'s anti-Semitic?

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- We define as anti-Semitism
is Natan Sharansky\'s \"three Ds\".

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- Which are?
- Does it delegitimize Israel?

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Does it demonize Israel?

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Is there a double standard
that only Israel is held to?

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I don\'t feel like
Community Federation funds

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should be used to support
anti-Israel programs.

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- The Jewish Federation
funds scores of projects

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and programs and organizations
like the film festival.

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We became the target of these
virulent email campaigns,

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and they were
personally attacking me

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and the Jewish Federation.

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People were saying, you know,

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\"If you don\'t publicly denounce
the film festival

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\"and stop the film
from being shown

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\"and cut all ties
to the film festival,

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\"we\'ll stop giving
to Federation,

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\"and we\'ll organize
everyone we know

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to stop giving
to Federation.\"

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- Now, of course, these are not
only unreasonable but absurd.

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We don\'t control
the organizations

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that are part of the community.

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- Weeks of email frenzy

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had whipped up
an us-them atmosphere.

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So walking into that theater,

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you knew that there was
a charged atmosphere.

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- Today\'s screening
has become a lightning rod

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for a tremendous deal
of controversy

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over whether it is appropriate
for a Jewish film festival

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to screen subject matter
that is critical

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of some Israeli government
actions or policies

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and to hear from speakers

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who may hold unpopular
or critical views.

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We must all acknowledge

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that the screening
of the film \"Rachel\"

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has hit a very raw nerve
among some in our community,

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even those
who have not seen the film.

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[scattered laughter]

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We are not afraid
to hear their opinions,

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and, in fact,
we invited someone here

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to share them with you
by way of being utterly candid

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about the controversy
surrounding our screening.

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- All of us here know that
Rachel Corrie tragically died

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when she intentionally
put herself in harm\'s way

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during an IDF
counterterrorism operation

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in the Gaza strip.

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[audience booing and hissing]

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- Get off the stage!
You\'re not welcome!

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- Shut up!

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- You need to be respectful.

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Please, let him finish.

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- A Jewish film festival
should not be presenting a film

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and speaker that demonize Israel

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and that are being...

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[audience boos]

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[people shouting]

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- Sieg Heil!
Siege Heil!

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- Folks, I-I...

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I gave a warning at the
beginning that each element...

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I was really dismayed

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by the audience reaction
that afternoon

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despite my attempts
to quell the heckles.

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In addition,
Dr. Harris stirred up anger.

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It was a...
It was a willful provocation.

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- It was a very,
very divisive atmosphere.

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[voices overlapping]

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- Let him talk.

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- I was sad and frustrated
by what I saw.

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The festival\'s unique space
for conversation

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was being used by extremists
on both sides

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to vent their anger
at one another.

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- The thing
that disturbed me was,

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the event was certain
to be used as fuel

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for a backlash against
all critics of Israel.

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It made us wonder who\'s entitled
to speak for a community

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and who can claim
to be the voice of the Jews.

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- I\'m John Rothmann,

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talk show host
on KGO news talk radio

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in San Francisco.

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As one who has been
actively involved

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in the Jewish community
for many years,

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what I saw

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and what you will see
on this video,

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should shock you, disturb you,
and cause you to react.

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This year is not the first time

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that the San Francisco
Jewish Film Festival

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has crossed the line.

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The festival has no problem
presenting movies

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which demonize Israel

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and sympathize with those
who participate in terror.

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The audience
was packed with extremists

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who relentlessly heckled
the sole pro-Israel speaker.

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The continued support

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of the San Francisco
Jewish Film Festival

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by mainstream organizations
such as the Jewish Federation

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legitimize radical
anti-Israel groups

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that support Hamas terror.

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- We have never,
nor will we now,

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begin to act
as a community censor.

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We\'re all grownups
in this community.

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This group had appointed itself
the sole arbiter

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of what was sufficiently
pro-Israel

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and sufficiently appropriate
for the Jewish community.

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There is no sole arbiter.

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We don\'t have a pope
in the Jewish community.

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What is alien
to Jewish community is this

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I\'ll call it almost
a neo-McCarthyism

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where one group says
that it is the determiner

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of what is appropriate
for community debate.

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- Soon after we interviewed him,

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Daniel Sokatch
left the Federation,

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which then dramatically
changed course

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by threatening to cut funds
to community organizations

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if they hosted controversial
speakers and debates.

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- Suddenly, people we knew

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were afraid
to speak their minds,

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worried they would be
blacklisted,

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lose their funding
or their jobs.

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- It\'s a chilling effect.

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It\'s a great concern,

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not just for me as a programmer
or leading an organization

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but for any organization
or group

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whose business it is
to cultivate conversations.

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If you start saying, \"Well,

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I\'m not sure we can really
have that conversation,\"

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then the critics have won.

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[dramatic music]

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- And a good Monday evening
to you.

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I am John Rothmann.

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Delighted to be with you

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right here on KGO Newstalk 810
every weeknight.

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The tentacles of radical Islam
are real and vital and alive.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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let\'s talk about it right here
on the John Rothmann program.

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808-0810.

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- The level of anger seemed
to be a few notches higher

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than it had ever been.

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- The anger came from the fact

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that when
a Jewish community event,

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which the film festival is,

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funded in part
by the Federation,

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permits a program to go forward
in which divestment,

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cuts in aid to Israel,
and boycott

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is permitted
to go unchallenged...

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If I had been Peter Stein,

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I would have stood up
on the stage

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and said that is not
the position

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of the film festival.

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We oppose this unconditionally.

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We are part
of the Jewish community.

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- The director
of a film festival

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doesn\'t have to get up onstage
and take...

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- He was on the stage.
- No, but...

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- He was...
He was on the stage.

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- It\'s not the job
of a festival director

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to say what
their political position

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on Israel in terms of...

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- I don\'t... I don\'t...

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- Aid or divestment.

00:11:46.268 --> 00:11:48.532
That is way beyond what is
expected of a festival director.

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- Okay, but then it is,
I believe...

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- Increasingly, the only
question that is being asked

00:11:55.567 --> 00:11:58.732
in many institutional
Jewish settings is,

00:11:58.733 --> 00:12:01.799
do you love Israel
unconditionally?

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All: [singing]
We shall not be moved

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End the occupation

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We shall not be moved

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- We first heard
of Jewish Voice for Peace

00:12:11.133 --> 00:12:13.632
when its members sat in
at the Israeli consulate

00:12:13.633 --> 00:12:15.366
in San Francisco.

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JVP often helped the
film festival promote movies,

00:12:18.667 --> 00:12:20.099
including \"Rachel.\"

00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:21.732
But what made John Rothmann
and others

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want to banish the group

00:12:23.067 --> 00:12:25.600
was its support
for divestment from Israel.

00:12:28.300 --> 00:12:29.732
- Sure, sure.

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And then we\'ll talk about that.

00:12:31.633 --> 00:12:36.232
- We vehemently, vehemently
support the right of people

00:12:36.233 --> 00:12:38.799
to engage
in all aspects of boycott,

00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:40.732
divestment, and sanctions

00:12:40.733 --> 00:12:43.332
that are legal,
that are nonviolent.

00:12:43.333 --> 00:12:45.699
We feel that
nonviolent resistance

00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:49.599
is exactly what needs to happen
to help end the occupation.

00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.966
It is so disturbing to me
that there are people

00:12:53.967 --> 00:13:00.199
who think that the fight
for justice and basic equality

00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:04.532
is in any way anti-Jewish
or anti-Israel.

00:13:04.533 --> 00:13:09.866
We are fighting
for fundamental equality.

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That is at the heart of Jewish
identity for so many of us.

00:13:17.833 --> 00:13:20.599
But the line for inclusion
in the Jewish community

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is becoming more narrow
by the day.

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- What happened at the festival
made me wonder

00:13:34.400 --> 00:13:38.466
who gets to decide
what being Jewish is and isn\'t.

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Do Deborah and I count
as being Jewish enough?

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And what about our kids?

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- For as along
as I can remember,

00:13:46.633 --> 00:13:48.232
Jewish leaders
have been in a panic

00:13:48.233 --> 00:13:50.266
about the next generation.

00:13:50.267 --> 00:13:52.599
They\'re afraid
not only of radical politics

00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:56.200
but of alternative lifestyles
and declining birthrates.

00:13:57.300 --> 00:14:01.032
Intermarriage, assimilation,
and the changing role of women

00:14:01.033 --> 00:14:02.966
bring debates
about the Jewish future

00:14:02.967 --> 00:14:05.832
right into our families.

00:14:05.833 --> 00:14:08.299
- The truth is that
the American Jewish community

00:14:08.300 --> 00:14:11.499
is now divided between those

00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:16.432
who are prepared
to accept anyone

00:14:16.433 --> 00:14:19.499
who self-identifies as a Jew
as being Jewish

00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:21.266
and those sectors
of the community

00:14:21.267 --> 00:14:24.199
that adhere to the traditional
rabbinic understanding,

00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:28.432
which is that one needs to be
descended from a Jewish mother.

00:14:28.433 --> 00:14:30.167
- Where do you
come down on this?

00:14:31.933 --> 00:14:34.567
- I identify
with traditional Judaism.

00:14:39.267 --> 00:14:42.267
- [chanting in Hebrew]

00:14:48.167 --> 00:14:50.666
- I\'m a re-interpreter.

00:14:50.667 --> 00:14:56.299
Judaism has always changed
and grown

00:14:56.300 --> 00:14:59.799
in each civilization it has met,

00:14:59.800 --> 00:15:04.867
and I see no reason why
our present moment is different.

00:15:09.467 --> 00:15:12.299
Belief isn\'t the point.

00:15:12.300 --> 00:15:14.632
Relationship, connection,

00:15:14.633 --> 00:15:18.867
dialogue, conversation,
commitment is the point.

00:15:20.900 --> 00:15:22.432
- There are aspects
of Jewish life

00:15:22.433 --> 00:15:24.232
that I am quite
pessimistic about.

00:15:24.233 --> 00:15:26.632
I feel that
the American Jewish community

00:15:26.633 --> 00:15:29.466
is a shrinking Jewish community.

00:15:29.467 --> 00:15:35.099
Quantity counts when it comes
to political strength.

00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:37.332
Quantity counts for status.

00:15:37.333 --> 00:15:40.100
Quantity counts for security.

00:15:41.833 --> 00:15:43.666
- When I was
a rabbinical student,

00:15:43.667 --> 00:15:48.666
I had a professor
who was dearly beloved to me

00:15:48.667 --> 00:15:53.132
say to our entire class
of young rabbinical students

00:15:53.133 --> 00:15:57.032
that we should all go out
and have babies,

00:15:57.033 --> 00:15:58.799
have at least three,

00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:01.866
and do it sooner
rather than later,

00:16:01.867 --> 00:16:05.399
and as a twentysomething,
I found this invasive.

00:16:05.400 --> 00:16:08.799
- I would be really surprised
if anybody actually decided

00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:13.567
solely to have a baby
to bolster the Jewish people.

00:16:15.033 --> 00:16:17.432
I mean, that\'s a fascinating way

00:16:17.433 --> 00:16:19.067
of making
the political personal.

00:16:21.900 --> 00:16:25.432
People want to feel valued
for being their individual self

00:16:25.433 --> 00:16:30.466
and not valued only for their
ability to marry another Jew

00:16:30.467 --> 00:16:33.599
and then create a Jewish family

00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.166
and a Jewish home and more Jews.

00:16:36.167 --> 00:16:40.699
[percussive music]

00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:43.700
[crowd cheering]

00:16:45.667 --> 00:16:48.066
- For me, one of the most
extreme attempts

00:16:48.067 --> 00:16:51.966
to keep young Jews in the fold
is a program called Birthright.

00:16:51.967 --> 00:16:54.899
Philanthropists have spent
$1/2 billion

00:16:54.900 --> 00:16:58.066
to send thousands of young Jews
on free trips to Israel

00:16:58.067 --> 00:17:01.066
in the hope that a ten-day
exposure to the holy land

00:17:01.067 --> 00:17:03.299
will strengthen
their Jewish identity

00:17:03.300 --> 00:17:05.132
and produce Jewish babies.

00:17:05.133 --> 00:17:08.132
- [singing in Hebrew]

00:17:08.133 --> 00:17:14.133
[rock music]

00:17:23.133 --> 00:17:26.266
- The alumni have started
to call it not \"Birthright\"

00:17:26.267 --> 00:17:27.533
but \"Birthrate.\"

00:17:32.733 --> 00:17:34.832
- \"Come to this
free cocktail hour,

00:17:34.833 --> 00:17:36.499
go to this free trip,\"

00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:38.299
to me, sends the message,

00:17:38.300 --> 00:17:41.199
\"There isn\'t inherent value
in these things.

00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.432
We have to pay you
or bribe you to do them.\"

00:17:44.433 --> 00:17:48.332
And the second is that,
\"We are responsible to you.

00:17:48.333 --> 00:17:51.333
You are not responsible
to the community.\"

00:17:56.100 --> 00:17:58.499
- I\'ve seen the drift away
from the Jewish community

00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:00.866
inside my own family.

00:18:00.867 --> 00:18:04.266
Here we are gathered
for my father\'s funeral.

00:18:04.267 --> 00:18:05.932
He was 93

00:18:05.933 --> 00:18:09.166
and grandfather to three Jews,
five Muslims,

00:18:09.167 --> 00:18:11.200
and one Jewish Unitarian.

00:18:13.300 --> 00:18:15.566
Over the years,
like other Jewish families,

00:18:15.567 --> 00:18:17.666
we had our own continuity crisis

00:18:17.667 --> 00:18:19.999
that challenged
our close family ties

00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.400
and our loyalty
to our much-loved father.

00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.932
My father was a passionate
Zionist his whole life.

00:18:28.933 --> 00:18:31.466
It began when he was a Jewish
Boy Scout in Vienna,

00:18:31.467 --> 00:18:34.266
fighting anti-Semitic
brown shirts on the streets

00:18:34.267 --> 00:18:37.067
and at the grave of the
Zionist leader Theodore Herzl.

00:18:41.100 --> 00:18:44.866
Here he is, 22 years old,
with his Vienna scout leader

00:18:44.867 --> 00:18:46.500
when they met up in Palestine.

00:18:49.633 --> 00:18:53.099
To many visitors, it looked
like a colonial backwater,

00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:54.566
but for my father,

00:18:54.567 --> 00:18:57.467
it held the hope of
revolutionary change for Jews.

00:18:59.067 --> 00:19:03.166
He fervently believed the only
answer to European anti-Semitism

00:19:03.167 --> 00:19:05.267
was a strong Jewish nation.

00:19:15.067 --> 00:19:17.766
My father was
one of the American troops

00:19:17.767 --> 00:19:21.199
to liberate the concentration
camp at Buchenwald,

00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.966
and so this is
some of the memorabilia

00:19:23.967 --> 00:19:27.300
and the photos he took
when he was there.

00:19:35.633 --> 00:19:39.899
He was treating the liberated
prisoners from Buchenwald

00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:42.367
at the hospital in Koelleda.

00:19:43.333 --> 00:19:44.599
He ran the hos...

00:19:44.600 --> 00:19:46.567
He didn\'t just treat them;
he ran the hospital.

00:19:55.100 --> 00:19:57.199
In the chaos
of the war\'s aftermath,

00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.332
my father smuggled survivors
and stolen munitions

00:20:00.333 --> 00:20:02.267
to what was then Palestine.

00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.532
His wartime experiences
left a lasting mark.

00:20:10.533 --> 00:20:13.099
Back home in America,
he became a leader

00:20:13.100 --> 00:20:15.632
of the Zionist Organization
of America

00:20:15.633 --> 00:20:17.799
when it was a small
and militant group

00:20:17.800 --> 00:20:20.100
in a sea
of postwar assimilation.

00:20:21.933 --> 00:20:25.100
But the Jewish future
he envisioned was elusive.

00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.866
- Do you fear for Judaism?

00:20:30.867 --> 00:20:32.366
- Do I fear for it?

00:20:32.367 --> 00:20:34.032
Yes, I do.

00:20:34.033 --> 00:20:39.166
Well, I think that the
Jewish community is in danger

00:20:39.167 --> 00:20:40.832
at the present time

00:20:40.833 --> 00:20:45.232
as a result
of a number of things,

00:20:45.233 --> 00:20:47.066
of the demographic...

00:20:47.067 --> 00:20:51.200
- Danger was all around,
especially inside the family.

00:20:52.900 --> 00:20:55.632
When I was a teenager,
my mother followed her passions

00:20:55.633 --> 00:20:56.966
and moved to Jerusalem

00:20:56.967 --> 00:21:00.600
to pursue a new life
as a poet and translator.

00:21:01.567 --> 00:21:03.566
The Vietnam War was raging,

00:21:03.567 --> 00:21:06.366
the counterculture
was in full swing.

00:21:06.367 --> 00:21:08.266
My conservative pro-war Dad

00:21:08.267 --> 00:21:10.632
was left to deal
with his crazy daughters,

00:21:10.633 --> 00:21:13.033
Tevye\'s girls gone wild.

00:21:14.733 --> 00:21:17.066
How could he
possibly understand,

00:21:17.067 --> 00:21:20.200
much less accept,
his daughters\' strange choices?

00:21:21.433 --> 00:21:24.899
My rebel politics
were a shock to his system.

00:21:24.900 --> 00:21:28.666
His little Mezhinka,
now a political prisoner,

00:21:28.667 --> 00:21:30.332
arrested in solidarity

00:21:30.333 --> 00:21:32.667
with Third World
liberation movements.

00:21:35.300 --> 00:21:38.533
Then, the world collapsed
under his feet.

00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:41.599
When she was in her 20s,

00:21:41.600 --> 00:21:43.900
one of my sisters
converted to Islam.

00:21:46.233 --> 00:21:49.266
How could my father,
a secular Jewish Zionist,

00:21:49.267 --> 00:21:51.632
possibly relate to her new life

00:21:51.633 --> 00:21:53.500
as a religiously observant
Muslim?

00:21:55.967 --> 00:21:59.732
Sorrow and anguish pursued him,
and he once told me,

00:21:59.733 --> 00:22:03.267
\"The regrets I have
are as high as a mountain.\"

00:22:18.633 --> 00:22:23.099
It was deeply painful for him
to accept generational change,

00:22:23.100 --> 00:22:25.999
that his grandchildren
were of different faiths.

00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.332
But in the end, for my father,

00:22:28.333 --> 00:22:33.567
family unity came first,
before Jewish tribe or religion.

00:22:38.467 --> 00:22:44.467
- [singing in Yiddish]

00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.999
- It was his final
and greatest gift to us,

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:51.566
his acceptance of change,

00:22:51.567 --> 00:22:53.999
his blessing to each of us,

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.766
his diverse family.

00:22:55.767 --> 00:22:59.732
- [singing in Yiddish]

00:22:59.733 --> 00:23:03.566
[laughter]

00:23:03.567 --> 00:23:05.932
- But even now,
with the passing of time,

00:23:05.933 --> 00:23:08.799
I can still
feel his heart being torn

00:23:08.800 --> 00:23:11.466
between his love
for his wayward children

00:23:11.467 --> 00:23:14.067
and his passionately held
lifelong beliefs.

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:21.000
[all singing]

00:23:33.967 --> 00:23:36.433
Some of us
are leaving the tribe.

00:23:38.767 --> 00:23:40.132
Some of us are staying

00:23:40.133 --> 00:23:43.866
and redefining what it means
to be a Jew.

00:23:43.867 --> 00:23:46.466
Each tribe has its traditions,

00:23:46.467 --> 00:23:51.299
but every tradition
was at one time an innovation,

00:23:51.300 --> 00:23:52.566
and I have come to see that

00:23:52.567 --> 00:23:55.999
the boundaries and values
of the tribe

00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.000
are in constant movement.

00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.466
- Right before he died,

00:24:10.467 --> 00:24:14.532
I asked Bernie how much he still
thinks about the Holocaust.

00:24:14.533 --> 00:24:17.567
He told me he had nightmares
every night.

00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:22.866
When I used to produce TV news,

00:24:22.867 --> 00:24:26.199
I saw how memory could be
short as the news cycle.

00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:30.032
Some memories get dropped
as too complex or inconvenient.

00:24:30.033 --> 00:24:32.999
Others get magnified
for political effect.

00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.432
But who gets to draw the lessons
of the Holocaust for today,

00:24:36.433 --> 00:24:38.233
and what are those lessons?

00:24:40.100 --> 00:24:43.632
- We live with the memory
of the Holocaust

00:24:43.633 --> 00:24:45.832
because the memory
of the Holocaust

00:24:45.833 --> 00:24:47.667
still lives in our world.

00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:53.099
- We visited Rabbi Hier\'s Museum
of Tolerance in Los Angeles

00:24:53.100 --> 00:24:54.899
because it\'s
a leading institution

00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.032
teaching lessons
of the Holocaust,

00:24:57.033 --> 00:24:58.332
the need for tolerance,

00:24:58.333 --> 00:25:00.367
and vigilance
against future threats.

00:25:02.533 --> 00:25:04.832
- We need to remember
those events

00:25:04.833 --> 00:25:08.932
so that the next time it occurs,
we will do better.

00:25:08.933 --> 00:25:10.533
We will have learned our lesson.

00:25:12.367 --> 00:25:15.932
When they come to a museum
and they actually experience...

00:25:15.933 --> 00:25:18.899
Listen to the firsthand
testimony of survivors

00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.732
in an environment
that represents what occurred,

00:25:22.733 --> 00:25:23.899
in three hours,

00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:26.299
it can have a tremendous impact
on their life.

00:25:26.300 --> 00:25:28.466
- Poland, September 1939...

00:25:28.467 --> 00:25:30.066
- And they listen
to the testimony

00:25:30.067 --> 00:25:34.266
in what looks like a gas chamber
and cry.

00:25:34.267 --> 00:25:36.399
And you know,
that\'s a good thing,

00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:40.266
because it\'s something
that I think they will remember.

00:25:40.267 --> 00:25:41.866
- The men were often sent
to work camps...

00:25:41.867 --> 00:25:44.966
- 90% of all of our visitors
are non-Jews.

00:25:44.967 --> 00:25:50.432
The impact is profound
and maybe will play a role in...

00:25:50.433 --> 00:25:54.666
A significant role in how
they view life in the future,

00:25:54.667 --> 00:25:57.867
and that\'s what we want to do,
impact the younger generation.

00:25:59.233 --> 00:26:02.099
- When we joined young people
visiting the museum,

00:26:02.100 --> 00:26:04.433
we wondered what message
they take home with them.

00:26:05.667 --> 00:26:08.199
Is it about the dangers
of anti-Semitism,

00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.132
about how bad it is
to be the victim?

00:26:11.133 --> 00:26:13.732
Or is it about our fascination
and susceptibility

00:26:13.733 --> 00:26:15.099
to great evil?

00:26:15.100 --> 00:26:17.200
Do they learn something
about themselves?

00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:21.599
- Abroad,
the German war machine...

00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:24.132
- The long, enduring message
of the Holocaust

00:26:24.133 --> 00:26:26.699
is one of the things
that\'s contested now.

00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:31.432
The Holocaust for the first two
generations post-Holocaust,

00:26:31.433 --> 00:26:32.566
let\'s be clear,

00:26:32.567 --> 00:26:36.032
replaced the Exodus
as the orienting myth,

00:26:36.033 --> 00:26:38.766
as the master narrative,
as the orienting story.

00:26:38.767 --> 00:26:40.866
The story of the Exodus

00:26:40.867 --> 00:26:42.866
and the reason it became
the orienting story

00:26:42.867 --> 00:26:43.932
for the Jewish people

00:26:43.933 --> 00:26:46.199
and for a lot
of Western civilization

00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:48.566
was not because of the slavery.

00:26:48.567 --> 00:26:50.432
It\'s not called
the slavery story.

00:26:50.433 --> 00:26:52.932
It\'s called the Exodus story.

00:26:52.933 --> 00:26:54.999
In Hebrew it\'s called
\"Yetziat Mitzrayim,\"

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:56.966
\"the going out of Egypt.\"

00:26:56.967 --> 00:26:59.499
It\'s a story of freedom
and liberation

00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:01.632
and salvation and redemption.

00:27:01.633 --> 00:27:04.666
- So long as there\'s
Ahmadinejad,

00:27:04.667 --> 00:27:08.766
so long as we have terrorism,
Hamas, and Hezbollah,

00:27:08.767 --> 00:27:10.232
and so long as their goal

00:27:10.233 --> 00:27:12.899
is to obliterate
the state of Israel,

00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:15.932
nothing has changed
from the Holocaust,

00:27:15.933 --> 00:27:19.266
except then it was Hitler,
who got away with it,

00:27:19.267 --> 00:27:21.299
and now it is a few people who,

00:27:21.300 --> 00:27:23.132
if we let them on their own,

00:27:23.133 --> 00:27:25.232
will try
to get away with it again.

00:27:25.233 --> 00:27:27.466
- The most dangerous thing
about holocausts,

00:27:27.467 --> 00:27:31.499
the most dangerous thing
about being abused,

00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:34.432
is that what you\'re going to do
is abuse others.

00:27:34.433 --> 00:27:37.999
You are going to lose a
fundamental trust in the world,

00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.532
and because of that,
you\'re going to go small,

00:27:40.533 --> 00:27:42.799
you\'re going to go tribal,
you\'re going to go insular,

00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:45.132
and you\'re going to look
at everybody, no matter what,

00:27:45.133 --> 00:27:47.232
through the prism
that they are my enemy.

00:27:47.233 --> 00:27:49.199
- History has taught us,

00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.432
you can\'t take a chance
on an idea

00:27:52.433 --> 00:27:54.899
that we are only a religion.

00:27:54.900 --> 00:27:56.366
We should have the right,

00:27:56.367 --> 00:27:59.199
like every other religion
and people.

00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.299
Christians have countries,
and they have their religion.

00:28:02.300 --> 00:28:03.499
Islam?

00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:06.432
People are Muslims,
and they have territory.

00:28:06.433 --> 00:28:08.466
Jews should have a religion,

00:28:08.467 --> 00:28:11.066
and they should have
a national identity

00:28:11.067 --> 00:28:12.866
in the state of Israel.

00:28:12.867 --> 00:28:14.599
And if you ask me why,

00:28:14.600 --> 00:28:16.867
I would say Hitler
would be one good reason.

00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.799
- Rabbi Hier hopes to raise
$250 million

00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:24.266
from American donors

00:28:24.267 --> 00:28:26.399
to complete a new
Museum of Tolerance

00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:28.933
in downtown Jerusalem.

00:28:32.733 --> 00:28:34.766
- We have
a special responsibility

00:28:34.767 --> 00:28:36.066
to teach tolerance.

00:28:36.067 --> 00:28:37.199
Why?

00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:38.899
Because perhaps we have been

00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:42.632
history\'s principle victims
of intolerance.

00:28:42.633 --> 00:28:45.232
And that\'s the purpose
of the museum there.

00:28:45.233 --> 00:28:49.166
For Jerusalem, it will be
a very important project

00:28:49.167 --> 00:28:51.466
The land was given to us
by the government of Israel

00:28:51.467 --> 00:28:53.000
and the city of Jerusalem.

00:28:57.133 --> 00:28:59.799
- There\'s just one problem.

00:28:59.800 --> 00:29:02.232
This tolerance museum
is being built

00:29:02.233 --> 00:29:06.733
on part of Jerusalem\'s historic
800-year-old Muslim cemetery.

00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:10.132
- I met one of the workers there

00:29:10.133 --> 00:29:12.366
who told me that they were
digging up bones

00:29:12.367 --> 00:29:13.833
and they were putting them
in boxes.

00:29:15.333 --> 00:29:19.632
More than 2,000 skeletons
were dug up and put into boxes

00:29:19.633 --> 00:29:21.766
by the Israel Antiquities
Authority.

00:29:21.767 --> 00:29:25.166
I went over to the site
to see what was going on.

00:29:25.167 --> 00:29:28.666
It was all fenced in,
and I couldn\'t really see.

00:29:28.667 --> 00:29:30.832
I was just amazed,
and I wrote an article.

00:29:30.833 --> 00:29:33.132
It probably went to
a few hundred thousand people.

00:29:33.133 --> 00:29:34.832
And I asked people
to write letters

00:29:34.833 --> 00:29:37.366
to the Wiesenthal Center
in Los Angeles

00:29:37.367 --> 00:29:39.233
saying that
this should not be done.

00:29:40.367 --> 00:29:43.466
The Wiesenthal Center
got the license to build here

00:29:43.467 --> 00:29:45.599
according to the law.

00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:47.132
But this is not a legal issue.

00:29:47.133 --> 00:29:48.399
This is a moral issue.

00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:49.699
This is a political issue.

00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:52.499
And this, by the way, you guys,
as Americans,

00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:54.299
have something
to say about it too,

00:29:54.300 --> 00:29:57.066
because the Wiesenthal Center
is an American institution.

00:29:57.067 --> 00:29:58.799
It\'s not an Israeli institution.

00:29:58.800 --> 00:30:03.632
But we\'re importing this
from Los Angeles.

00:30:03.633 --> 00:30:06.966
Allowing this Wiesenthal Center
Museum of Tolerance

00:30:06.967 --> 00:30:10.766
to be built on top of
a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem

00:30:10.767 --> 00:30:15.133
destroys the hope that Jerusalem
can be a city of peace.

00:30:38.833 --> 00:30:40.533
Look at this one.

00:30:42.967 --> 00:30:43.967
- This is the name:

00:30:43.968 --> 00:30:48.232
Raisa Ben Awad al Koran,
died on...

00:30:48.233 --> 00:30:52.099
Died in tenth of Ramadan,

00:30:52.100 --> 00:30:54.333
the year 1347.

00:30:59.033 --> 00:31:01.732
- Holocaust memory
has become very political,

00:31:01.733 --> 00:31:03.432
and we invoke
memory of Holocaust

00:31:03.433 --> 00:31:08.032
to justify almost anything
that we\'re doing.

00:31:08.033 --> 00:31:09.732
I believe that the Holocaust

00:31:09.733 --> 00:31:12.032
is not the center
of our identity.

00:31:12.033 --> 00:31:14.299
The center of our identity
is the moral code

00:31:14.300 --> 00:31:15.632
that we have been brought up,

00:31:15.633 --> 00:31:17.866
which is the heart
of what Jewish traditions

00:31:17.867 --> 00:31:19.067
and values teach us.

00:31:21.800 --> 00:31:26.099
We see how the cemetery
is not cared for.

00:31:26.100 --> 00:31:30.199
The Israeli authorities have not
allowed the Muslim authorities

00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:32.366
to come in here
and take care of the cemetery.

00:31:32.367 --> 00:31:35.766
So we see a great deal
of broken graves,

00:31:35.767 --> 00:31:38.066
of a cemetery
which has been left alone.

00:31:38.067 --> 00:31:39.333
That\'s how it appears.

00:31:42.333 --> 00:31:44.099
- What\'s painful in all of this

00:31:44.100 --> 00:31:46.999
is that one of the principles

00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:49.399
that should guide
the peace process

00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.932
is the issue of the respect
of the religious sites

00:31:51.933 --> 00:31:54.000
of both sides
in their territories.

00:31:55.567 --> 00:31:59.432
We need an expert
in handwriting.

00:31:59.433 --> 00:32:00.732
- But in the Middle East,

00:32:00.733 --> 00:32:02.866
there\'s a long history
of warring peoples

00:32:02.867 --> 00:32:06.599
destroying one another\'s
holy places and graveyards.

00:32:06.600 --> 00:32:09.799
Tolerance is a relatively
new and fragile ideal

00:32:09.800 --> 00:32:11.632
compared to centuries
of religious

00:32:11.633 --> 00:32:13.099
and nationalist wars,

00:32:13.100 --> 00:32:16.132
each justified
by a particular name of God

00:32:16.133 --> 00:32:18.567
or by revenge
for earlier victims.

00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:35.366
- The Jordanians used
Jewish gravestones

00:32:35.367 --> 00:32:38.432
and paved a road over part
of the Jewish cemetery

00:32:38.433 --> 00:32:40.099
in the Mount of Olives,

00:32:40.100 --> 00:32:43.032
and we ask,
do we want that to happen

00:32:43.033 --> 00:32:44.933
to Jewish cemeteries
around the world?

00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:51.199
Every time a Jewish cemetery
is violated

00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:52.732
somewhere in the world,

00:32:52.733 --> 00:32:54.766
the Jewish community screams

00:32:54.767 --> 00:32:57.032
because this is disrespect,

00:32:57.033 --> 00:32:59.366
and we call it anti-Semitism.

00:32:59.367 --> 00:33:02.599
We can\'t do it
if we expect the world

00:33:02.600 --> 00:33:05.333
to treat our cemeteries
with respect.

00:33:11.733 --> 00:33:12.999
- A controversy over

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.099
the Simon Wiesenthal Center\'s
project

00:33:15.100 --> 00:33:16.866
to build a Museum of Tolerance

00:33:16.867 --> 00:33:19.766
on a historic Muslim cemetery
in Jerusalem

00:33:19.767 --> 00:33:21.432
has gone all the way
to the United Nations.

00:33:21.433 --> 00:33:22.999
Today families defending

00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.799
the 12th-century
Mamilla Cemetery

00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:27.932
from desecration
by Israeli authorities

00:33:27.933 --> 00:33:30.666
filed their case before
the United Nations in Geneva.

00:33:30.667 --> 00:33:31.799
With news conferences...

00:33:31.800 --> 00:33:34.066
- There are 15 families,
60 people,

00:33:34.067 --> 00:33:36.799
who have ancestors
in that cemetery.

00:33:36.800 --> 00:33:38.566
We\'re the petitioners.

00:33:38.567 --> 00:33:41.099
Nobody ever told us where
these remains were reburied.

00:33:41.100 --> 00:33:44.299
I mean, imagine if you had
ancestors in a cemetery

00:33:44.300 --> 00:33:45.632
and somebody came along
and said,

00:33:45.633 --> 00:33:47.132
\"We\'re going to build
whatever it is there,\"

00:33:47.133 --> 00:33:48.466
dug them up
and buried them somewhere else

00:33:48.467 --> 00:33:50.132
without telling you where.

00:33:50.133 --> 00:33:53.799
- This was dealt with by
the highest judicial authority

00:33:53.800 --> 00:33:55.032
in the land of Israel,

00:33:55.033 --> 00:33:58.432
not noted to be
a conservative court,

00:33:58.433 --> 00:34:01.866
known to be extremely
a liberal court.

00:34:01.867 --> 00:34:04.599
They looked into the whole
history of this question,

00:34:04.600 --> 00:34:08.899
and in a unanimous
119-page ruling said,

00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:10.166
\"Go forth.

00:34:10.167 --> 00:34:12.967
All your suggestions
are acceptable to the court.\"

00:34:18.100 --> 00:34:22.632
- We cannot preach to the world
about ethics and morality

00:34:22.633 --> 00:34:26.032
if in our homeland,
in the heart of our homeland,

00:34:26.033 --> 00:34:28.766
in our capital eternal city,

00:34:28.767 --> 00:34:31.433
we go against the very values
that we live by.

00:34:37.667 --> 00:34:38.866
- Throughout our journey,

00:34:38.867 --> 00:34:41.532
we\'ve tried to understand
what are those values?

00:34:41.533 --> 00:34:45.200
And are Jewish values different
in Israel and the United States?

00:34:57.467 --> 00:35:00.532
- In our own country,
many of us believe Jewish values

00:35:00.533 --> 00:35:02.532
explain why
so many American Jews

00:35:02.533 --> 00:35:04.799
consistently support
liberal candidates

00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:08.432
and social movements
like feminism and gay rights,

00:35:08.433 --> 00:35:12.399
causes that go beyond the claims
of narrow self-interest.

00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:14.566
That has frustrated Republicans

00:35:14.567 --> 00:35:18.132
and Jewish neoconservatives
for decades.

00:35:18.133 --> 00:35:20.699
- When I was working
at Progressive Jewish Alliance,

00:35:20.700 --> 00:35:22.132
every couple of years,

00:35:22.133 --> 00:35:24.399
I would be asked
to debate a member

00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:28.132
of the Republican Jewish
Committee at election time.

00:35:28.133 --> 00:35:30.899
And every year,
every two years or four years,

00:35:30.900 --> 00:35:33.566
the proposition
that my debate partner

00:35:33.567 --> 00:35:34.666
would bring to the table was,

00:35:34.667 --> 00:35:36.066
\"This year
is going to be different.

00:35:36.067 --> 00:35:37.067
\"You\'ll see.

00:35:37.068 --> 00:35:38.599
\"This year the American Jews
are going to change,

00:35:38.600 --> 00:35:40.232
and they\'re gonna vote
Republican.\"

00:35:40.233 --> 00:35:42.532
Every year, I gladly accepted
the invitation

00:35:42.533 --> 00:35:43.932
to have this conversation,

00:35:43.933 --> 00:35:44.999
because I knew he was wrong,

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:46.267
and every year, he was wrong.

00:35:47.500 --> 00:35:49.999
- The question is, why?

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.366
Does Jewish leftism,

00:35:51.367 --> 00:35:54.232
even utopianism,
flow from religious teaching,

00:35:54.233 --> 00:35:57.532
historical circumstance,
family background?

00:35:57.533 --> 00:36:00.332
And do leftwing Jews
betray the tribe

00:36:00.333 --> 00:36:02.999
by pursuing universal values?

00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:06.866
I figured it was finally time
to dig into the family archives

00:36:06.867 --> 00:36:08.799
in deep storage.

00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:09.966
[bell dings]

00:36:09.967 --> 00:36:11.967
[door creaking and squeaking]

00:36:13.733 --> 00:36:15.532
Hello.

00:36:15.533 --> 00:36:18.100
My family\'s level
of organization.

00:36:19.033 --> 00:36:21.100
You want to take a look
at that box below it?

00:36:24.733 --> 00:36:27.332
- 57 one, I\'ve found.

00:36:27.333 --> 00:36:29.633
- Do you see anything
of Virginia\'s?

00:36:32.300 --> 00:36:35.166
This is my Mom, Virginia Snitow.

00:36:35.167 --> 00:36:38.166
For a long time, I knew almost
nothing about her early years

00:36:38.167 --> 00:36:40.133
other than her flair
for the dramatic.

00:36:41.333 --> 00:36:44.200
I call this picture
\"The Vegetarian.\"

00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:47.099
Like most kids,
I didn\'t know much

00:36:47.100 --> 00:36:49.466
and didn\'t ask about her past,

00:36:49.467 --> 00:36:52.099
but Mom also
kept some things secret,

00:36:52.100 --> 00:36:54.767
and as I grew older,
my suspicions grew.

00:36:56.100 --> 00:36:58.232
My first clue came
when I was nine.

00:36:58.233 --> 00:37:00.366
We were watching the news.

00:37:00.367 --> 00:37:05.799
- Joseph McCarthy dies
on May 2, 1957.

00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:07.199
The cause of death...

00:37:07.200 --> 00:37:08.499
- Mom turned to my Dad

00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:11.766
with a ghoulish look
of satisfaction and said...

00:37:11.767 --> 00:37:14.900
- You know,
I could dance on his grave.

00:37:20.633 --> 00:37:21.899
- What a thing to say

00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:25.632
about the nation\'s freshly dead
investigator of subversion.

00:37:25.633 --> 00:37:27.132
It took me a long time,

00:37:27.133 --> 00:37:29.933
but I finally did
my own interrogation.

00:37:33.600 --> 00:37:35.299
- The question is,
have you ever been a member

00:37:35.300 --> 00:37:36.366
of the Communist Party?

00:37:36.367 --> 00:37:39.232
Are you or have you every been
a member of the Communist Party?

00:37:39.233 --> 00:37:40.799
- Are you now
or have you ever been

00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:42.299
a member of the Communist Party?

00:37:42.300 --> 00:37:44.466
- Her answer amazed me.

00:37:44.467 --> 00:37:47.767
- Yes, I was, for 13 years.

00:37:52.067 --> 00:37:53.299
- Nada.

00:37:53.300 --> 00:37:55.499
- What are you looking for?

00:37:55.500 --> 00:37:57.199
- After she died,

00:37:57.200 --> 00:37:59.866
which was just three months
after my father died,

00:37:59.867 --> 00:38:02.332
we stashed a lot of stuff here.

00:38:02.333 --> 00:38:06.866
I thought that there might be
in here some evidence

00:38:06.867 --> 00:38:12.466
of her earlier life
when she was a teacher in Harlem

00:38:12.467 --> 00:38:14.467
and a member
of the Communist Party.

00:38:18.333 --> 00:38:22.032
The 1930s were the heyday
of American communism,

00:38:22.033 --> 00:38:23.033
and in New York,

00:38:23.034 --> 00:38:26.133
well over 50% of communists
were Jews.

00:38:27.133 --> 00:38:29.399
My Mom was one of them.

00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:31.632
- She saw a world in chaos.

00:38:31.633 --> 00:38:34.132
All around her,
people weren\'t just unemployed;

00:38:34.133 --> 00:38:37.299
many were actually starving.

00:38:37.300 --> 00:38:40.766
For young Jews hungry
for equality and justice,

00:38:40.767 --> 00:38:43.199
the choices seemed clear-cut.

00:38:43.200 --> 00:38:46.766
- The right-wing alternative was
Hitler and Mussolini in Europe.

00:38:46.767 --> 00:38:47.932
[crowd cheering]

00:38:47.933 --> 00:38:50.166
In the U.S.,
it was a right-wing radio priest

00:38:50.167 --> 00:38:52.332
named Father Charles Coughlin,

00:38:52.333 --> 00:38:54.432
who galvanized
millions of people

00:38:54.433 --> 00:38:57.432
with attacks on Jewish bankers
and Hollywood.

00:38:57.433 --> 00:39:02.567
- Drive the moneychangers
from the temple.

00:39:07.067 --> 00:39:09.332
- Many other non-Jews could turn
to the far right

00:39:09.333 --> 00:39:12.632
as a response
to the Great Depression.

00:39:12.633 --> 00:39:14.932
Jews really could not do that.

00:39:14.933 --> 00:39:16.399
It was too anti-Semitic.

00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:20.499
So the options for Jews are
either liberalism or socialism,

00:39:20.500 --> 00:39:22.867
or some form of communism.

00:39:26.967 --> 00:39:32.166
- For my mother at 22 years old,
the option was communism,

00:39:32.167 --> 00:39:34.199
but her inspiration
came from her job

00:39:34.200 --> 00:39:35.866
as a teacher at Wadleigh,

00:39:35.867 --> 00:39:38.066
an all-girls,
largely African-American

00:39:38.067 --> 00:39:41.232
public high school in Harlem.

00:39:41.233 --> 00:39:43.166
She joined
the radical teachers union

00:39:43.167 --> 00:39:44.532
and organized the first

00:39:44.533 --> 00:39:48.466
black history week
celebrations at school.

00:39:48.467 --> 00:39:51.232
Then, during World War II,
she wrote an article,

00:39:51.233 --> 00:39:53.099
later turned into a radio play,

00:39:53.100 --> 00:39:56.132
about her students\'
humiliation, despair,

00:39:56.133 --> 00:40:00.399
and deep-down rage at the racism
they faced every day.

00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:05.032
It starred an unknown
young actress named Ruby Dee.

00:40:05.033 --> 00:40:07.132
- What have I got to do
with this war?

00:40:07.133 --> 00:40:09.599
Hitler, he\'s got the right idea.

00:40:09.600 --> 00:40:11.299
He gives the people guns.

00:40:11.300 --> 00:40:13.299
I\'d like to have a gun too.

00:40:13.300 --> 00:40:14.300
Boy, if I had one,

00:40:14.301 --> 00:40:15.599
there wouldn\'t be
a lot of people

00:40:15.600 --> 00:40:16.867
walking around in this world.

00:40:20.633 --> 00:40:22.766
- Oh, now, here\'s something.

00:40:22.767 --> 00:40:27.432
\"The Russian cookbook
for American Homes,\"

00:40:27.433 --> 00:40:28.866
\"War-Time Edition.\"

00:40:28.867 --> 00:40:31.332
\"Brains with spinach sauce.

00:40:31.333 --> 00:40:33.567
Cold brains with mayonnaise.\"

00:40:34.667 --> 00:40:36.500
[ship\'s horn blows]

00:40:38.100 --> 00:40:39.399
Like a lot of radicals,

00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:41.532
my mother gravitated
to one country

00:40:41.533 --> 00:40:43.666
that seemed like an alternative.

00:40:43.667 --> 00:40:46.666
- [speaking Russian]

00:40:46.667 --> 00:40:48.799
- In 1936, just eight months

00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:50.899
after marrying my father,
Charles,

00:40:50.900 --> 00:40:54.366
she was off, traveling
on her own to the Soviet Union

00:40:54.367 --> 00:40:56.100
to see the future for herself.

00:41:03.900 --> 00:41:07.366
I uncovered just one
fragmentary piece of evidence,

00:41:07.367 --> 00:41:09.799
but it is enough.

00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:11.932
- \"Dearest sweetheart,

00:41:11.933 --> 00:41:13.999
\"I am now in Kharkov.

00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:15.699
\"It\'s blisteringly hot,

00:41:15.700 --> 00:41:18.766
\"and if I could lie around
in the altogether with you,

00:41:18.767 --> 00:41:21.632
\"the heat would be blissful.

00:41:21.633 --> 00:41:23.532
\"Everywhere here is change,

00:41:23.533 --> 00:41:26.299
\"and in the hope of the people,
you can see the comfort

00:41:26.300 --> 00:41:29.766
\"and beauty
which our own poor must carry

00:41:29.767 --> 00:41:32.333
as only a dream
under our present system.\"

00:41:36.533 --> 00:41:38.699
- Russia, she wrote,
was a fragile society.

00:41:38.700 --> 00:41:41.532
Its long-suffering people
were hemmed in

00:41:41.533 --> 00:41:44.033
by fascist enemies
and needed defenders.

00:41:44.967 --> 00:41:46.532
She refused to believe reports

00:41:46.533 --> 00:41:49.167
about Stalin\'s gulags
and bloody purges.

00:41:50.433 --> 00:41:53.433
[people shouting and cheering]

00:41:55.067 --> 00:41:58.299
I still ask myself,
how could she and so many others

00:41:58.300 --> 00:42:01.999
have supported a brutal leader
who murdered millions?

00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:03.399
- I think it\'s a good question

00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:06.032
that subsequent generations
have posed

00:42:06.033 --> 00:42:08.999
to their parents
and grandparents.

00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:10.432
How could they have not known

00:42:10.433 --> 00:42:12.533
about what was happening
in the Soviet Union?

00:42:15.233 --> 00:42:17.566
There was
a sincerely held belief

00:42:17.567 --> 00:42:21.432
that the Soviet Union
had solved the major problems

00:42:21.433 --> 00:42:23.132
of that period...

00:42:23.133 --> 00:42:25.332
Unemployment,
first and foremost...

00:42:25.333 --> 00:42:27.366
And that the Soviet Union
also served

00:42:27.367 --> 00:42:29.867
as a bulwark
against the spread of fascism.

00:42:34.067 --> 00:42:37.899
- For my mom, the 1939 pact
between Stalin and Hitler

00:42:37.900 --> 00:42:40.032
was a betrayal of faith.

00:42:40.033 --> 00:42:44.666
It was the end of an ideology
but not of her commitment.

00:42:44.667 --> 00:42:48.266
- \"I would never classify myself
as a revolutionary.

00:42:48.267 --> 00:42:50.666
\"What I was moved by
were the issues.

00:42:50.667 --> 00:42:54.132
\"And about those things
I felt very, very deeply.

00:42:54.133 --> 00:42:57.732
\"Whatever political movement
would incorporate those ideals,

00:42:57.733 --> 00:42:59.567
would incorporate me.\"

00:43:02.133 --> 00:43:03.832
- In the late 1940s,

00:43:03.833 --> 00:43:06.132
Mom and Dad joined
the mass migration

00:43:06.133 --> 00:43:08.899
to the era\'s new utopia,
the suburbs,

00:43:08.900 --> 00:43:11.399
to raise me and my sister, Ann.

00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:13.766
Mom left the Party far behind,

00:43:13.767 --> 00:43:16.099
but she continued
her political work

00:43:16.100 --> 00:43:18.399
no longer
through a communist lens

00:43:18.400 --> 00:43:19.467
but a Jewish one.

00:43:20.700 --> 00:43:21.799
Knowing my mom,

00:43:21.800 --> 00:43:24.866
she must have been going crazy
isolated in the suburbs.

00:43:24.867 --> 00:43:28.033
She wanted politics
as well as pearls.

00:43:29.833 --> 00:43:32.266
So she joined
American Jewish Congress,

00:43:32.267 --> 00:43:34.432
a national organization
that shared her belief

00:43:34.433 --> 00:43:36.032
in unions and civil rights,

00:43:36.033 --> 00:43:39.899
and opposed loyalty oaths
and the escalating Red Scare.

00:43:39.900 --> 00:43:41.700
She hid her communist past.

00:43:43.533 --> 00:43:45.899
- \"I didn\'t want it
to be discussed.

00:43:45.900 --> 00:43:47.132
\"There were many places

00:43:47.133 --> 00:43:50.566
\"where I couldn\'t continue
to function if it were known.

00:43:50.567 --> 00:43:52.432
It was like a stigmata.\"

00:43:52.433 --> 00:43:57.932
- Her colleagues at AJC
never found out about her past.

00:43:57.933 --> 00:44:02.332
And lucky for her and for us,
neither did the FBI.

00:44:02.333 --> 00:44:04.632
She is not mentioned
in 2,000 pages

00:44:04.633 --> 00:44:06.632
of FBI files we obtained

00:44:06.633 --> 00:44:08.466
on alleged
communist infiltration

00:44:08.467 --> 00:44:10.532
of American Jewish Congress.

00:44:10.533 --> 00:44:13.199
But the files did make me upset.

00:44:13.200 --> 00:44:15.632
They reveal the AJC\'s
liberal leaders

00:44:15.633 --> 00:44:19.932
purged groups
close to the Communist Party.

00:44:19.933 --> 00:44:20.867
- There was a feeling

00:44:20.868 --> 00:44:24.932
that communists were beyond
the pale of Jewish communal life

00:44:24.933 --> 00:44:26.832
because they were supporters
of a country

00:44:26.833 --> 00:44:28.932
that was totalitarian,

00:44:28.933 --> 00:44:33.499
that was increasingly
anti-Semitic,

00:44:33.500 --> 00:44:35.366
that had turned against Israel

00:44:35.367 --> 00:44:38.699
in a pretty traumatic
and harsh way.

00:44:38.700 --> 00:44:42.999
So there was a widespread
feeling by the early 1950s

00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.799
that communists
were beyond the pale;

00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:47.840
they just didn\'t belong
within the Jewish community.

00:44:48.967 --> 00:44:51.666
- My first reaction
to the AJC purge was,

00:44:51.667 --> 00:44:53.667
it was another witch hunt.

00:44:54.900 --> 00:44:57.799
But as I read further,
I felt torn.

00:44:57.800 --> 00:44:59.432
Like the AJC leaders,

00:44:59.433 --> 00:45:01.532
I\'m also against
left-wing groups

00:45:01.533 --> 00:45:06.332
when they intimidate dissent
in the name of liberation.

00:45:06.333 --> 00:45:08.499
On the other hand,
I\'m against right-wing efforts

00:45:08.500 --> 00:45:10.799
to silence the left
as anti-American,

00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:13.167
or, nowadays, anti-Israel.

00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:19.799
- In 1965, my mother
was elected president

00:45:19.800 --> 00:45:22.166
of AJC National Women\'s
Division,

00:45:22.167 --> 00:45:24.566
leaving the next day to join

00:45:24.567 --> 00:45:28.232
the historic Selma-to-Montgomery
civil rights march.

00:45:28.233 --> 00:45:30.766
She became a recognized leader,

00:45:30.767 --> 00:45:33.066
speaking out
for racial equality, peace,

00:45:33.067 --> 00:45:37.366
and women\'s rights all over
the country and in Israel.

00:45:37.367 --> 00:45:39.799
As Mom became
a liberal Jewish leader,

00:45:39.800 --> 00:45:43.066
my sister and I became radicals,

00:45:43.067 --> 00:45:45.899
rebelling against her
and my Dad\'s suburban lifestyle.

00:45:45.900 --> 00:45:48.332
We became active
in left-wing movements

00:45:48.333 --> 00:45:49.699
against the Vietnam war,

00:45:49.700 --> 00:45:51.933
for feminism and radical change.

00:45:54.133 --> 00:45:56.732
We\'d absorbed Mom\'s anger
against prejudice,

00:45:56.733 --> 00:45:58.166
her idealism,

00:45:58.167 --> 00:46:00.566
and also her
hard-won skepticism,

00:46:00.567 --> 00:46:03.032
even though we didn\'t know
her own history.

00:46:03.033 --> 00:46:05.832
It\'s a peculiar kind
of left-wing continuity...

00:46:05.833 --> 00:46:08.199
Frustrating, bumpy,
and interrupted...

00:46:08.200 --> 00:46:09.432
But for many of us,

00:46:09.433 --> 00:46:11.799
radical activism
against injustice

00:46:11.800 --> 00:46:14.799
is also a kind
of Jewish continuity.

00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.800
[crowd cheering]

00:46:18.333 --> 00:46:20.832
- Union power, what we got?

00:46:20.833 --> 00:46:22.866
- We want justice.
Boycott!

00:46:22.867 --> 00:46:25.632
- Union power, what we got?

00:46:25.633 --> 00:46:27.999
- When low-paid
immigrant hotel workers march

00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:30.299
for a union contract
in San Francisco

00:46:30.300 --> 00:46:33.899
or domestic workers protest
working conditions in New York,

00:46:33.900 --> 00:46:37.299
they are often joined
in solidarity by Jews like us

00:46:37.300 --> 00:46:40.200
and by young Jewish activists
like Sarah Church.

00:46:42.200 --> 00:46:44.232
- For me,
the touchstones of Jewish faith

00:46:44.233 --> 00:46:46.366
have always been
putting what we pray for

00:46:46.367 --> 00:46:48.666
into action ourselves.

00:46:48.667 --> 00:46:52.532
I like to draw from the teaching
of the prophet Jeremiah

00:46:52.533 --> 00:46:56.099
and seek the well-being
of the city in which you dwell,

00:46:56.100 --> 00:46:59.366
for in its peace,
you will find your peace.

00:46:59.367 --> 00:47:01.766
To me, that\'s the essence
of what solidarity work is

00:47:01.767 --> 00:47:02.932
or being an ally is.

00:47:02.933 --> 00:47:05.799
It\'s understanding that.

00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:10.399
- I will unabashedly argue that
the founding texts of Judaism

00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:13.999
embrace at their core
this notion that,

00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:17.099
for the Jew in the world,
the obligation is to be,

00:47:17.100 --> 00:47:19.899
as the prophet Isaiah says,
the repairer of the breach,

00:47:19.900 --> 00:47:22.132
that the obligation
is to feed the hungry

00:47:22.133 --> 00:47:25.099
and clothe the naked
and house the homeless

00:47:25.100 --> 00:47:27.166
and break off the yoke
of oppression

00:47:27.167 --> 00:47:29.066
to let the oppressed go free.

00:47:29.067 --> 00:47:31.766
- I don\'t believe there\'s
anything intrinsic in Judaism

00:47:31.767 --> 00:47:35.266
that lends itself to radicalism.

00:47:35.267 --> 00:47:38.999
I think radicalism
has been a product

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.732
of particular times and places
in Jewish histories,

00:47:42.733 --> 00:47:46.666
and we can see that in the fact
that in some cities,

00:47:46.667 --> 00:47:47.766
in some countries,

00:47:47.767 --> 00:47:49.866
radicalism was not an
important part of Jewish life,

00:47:49.867 --> 00:47:50.899
and in others, it was.

00:47:50.900 --> 00:47:53.966
- What I\'ve learned
from studying Jewish history

00:47:53.967 --> 00:47:54.967
and what I\'ve learned

00:47:54.968 --> 00:47:57.599
from watching how America
has unfolded politically

00:47:57.600 --> 00:47:59.132
is that the only thing
I can say for sure

00:47:59.133 --> 00:48:02.632
is that Judaism doesn\'t have
a specific politics.

00:48:02.633 --> 00:48:06.199
Judaism\'s job
as a spiritual tradition,

00:48:06.200 --> 00:48:11.932
is to undermine and destabilize
anybody\'s political position

00:48:11.933 --> 00:48:13.299
that\'s become too absolute.

00:48:13.300 --> 00:48:17.899
- Jews place so much hope
in emancipation, in communism,

00:48:17.900 --> 00:48:21.066
in revolution, in socialism,
in liberalism, in Zionism,

00:48:21.067 --> 00:48:22.166
all these things, you know,

00:48:22.167 --> 00:48:23.399
that were supposed to solve

00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:24.799
the existential problems
of Jews,

00:48:24.800 --> 00:48:27.066
and all of them
turned out to be,

00:48:27.067 --> 00:48:29.133
in one way or another,
problematic, all of them.

00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:32.099
- It\'s falling apart.

00:48:32.100 --> 00:48:33.633
- It\'s really falling apart.

00:48:36.567 --> 00:48:38.399
- I was startled to uncover
the parallels

00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:42.432
between Virginia on the left
and my Dad on the right.

00:48:42.433 --> 00:48:45.566
In spite of frustrations,
even disillusionment,

00:48:45.567 --> 00:48:47.899
the utopian commitments
they made in their 20s

00:48:47.900 --> 00:48:50.866
to Zionism and communism
shaped their lives

00:48:50.867 --> 00:48:53.433
and so much of who we are
as American Jews today.

00:48:54.600 --> 00:48:57.766
They lived long enough
to accomplish many goals

00:48:57.767 --> 00:48:59.532
but also to see their children

00:48:59.533 --> 00:49:01.700
travel down
very different roads.

00:49:08.033 --> 00:49:11.166
I\'m getting ready
to visit my mom in Israel.

00:49:11.167 --> 00:49:12.666
It always amazes me to think

00:49:12.667 --> 00:49:15.132
that for the first time
in 2,000 years,

00:49:15.133 --> 00:49:18.232
Jewish identity is being shaped
in both the Diaspora

00:49:18.233 --> 00:49:20.566
and also in a Jewish state.

00:49:20.567 --> 00:49:21.999
The question is

00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:24.199
to what extent
these two Jewish realities

00:49:24.200 --> 00:49:26.300
support one another
or tear us apart.

00:49:28.133 --> 00:49:30.032
- On the 17th day
of the war in Gaza,

00:49:30.033 --> 00:49:32.632
there\'s still no sign
of a ceasefire.

00:49:32.633 --> 00:49:35.899
Israeli troops and Hamas
militants fought sporadic...

00:49:35.900 --> 00:49:40.832
- Occupation, settlements, war...
The bad news keeps coming.

00:49:40.833 --> 00:49:44.499
American supporters of Israel
are on the defensive

00:49:44.500 --> 00:49:48.199
with a publicity campaign
to show the good side:

00:49:48.200 --> 00:49:54.832
beaches, bars,
prosperity, freedom.

00:49:54.833 --> 00:49:57.200
But the other reality
keeps coming back.

00:50:15.033 --> 00:50:17.132
When I\'m in Jerusalem
visiting my mom,

00:50:17.133 --> 00:50:18.900
it\'s not about
this war of images.

00:50:21.733 --> 00:50:25.366
It\'s a place where people work,
raise families,

00:50:25.367 --> 00:50:28.900
dream of a better future,
and grow old.

00:50:30.933 --> 00:50:34.032
I understand the desire
to protect Israel,

00:50:34.033 --> 00:50:36.399
even while I\'m filled
with fear and sadness

00:50:36.400 --> 00:50:38.833
about what the long occupation
is doing there.

00:50:46.900 --> 00:50:49.966
It\'s an uneasy feeling,
but I want to acknowledge

00:50:49.967 --> 00:50:53.466
not just the good
but also what troubles me

00:50:53.467 --> 00:50:56.367
and many other American
and Israeli Jews.

00:50:59.133 --> 00:51:01.032
- People will walk away
from an argument

00:51:01.033 --> 00:51:02.732
that looks like Israel
right or wrong,

00:51:02.733 --> 00:51:05.199
or Israel is an apartheid
demon state.

00:51:05.200 --> 00:51:07.599
That is just not
a compelling paradigm

00:51:07.600 --> 00:51:09.366
for most young American Jews.

00:51:09.367 --> 00:51:13.332
The hope lies
in showing an alternative

00:51:13.333 --> 00:51:15.432
to both of those
ultimately untenable

00:51:15.433 --> 00:51:17.032
and, I believe, intellectually

00:51:17.033 --> 00:51:19.000
and emotionally dishonest
positions.

00:51:21.233 --> 00:51:23.999
- When Daniel Sokatch
left the Jewish Federation,

00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:26.699
the rancor that started
at the Jewish Film Festival

00:51:26.700 --> 00:51:29.866
followed him to his new job
at the New Israel Fund,

00:51:29.867 --> 00:51:31.132
the leading foundation

00:51:31.133 --> 00:51:33.433
supporting human rights work
in Israel.

00:51:34.767 --> 00:51:36.732
- Hi, I\'m Daniel Sokatch,

00:51:36.733 --> 00:51:38.932
and I\'m the CEO
of the New Israel Fund,

00:51:38.933 --> 00:51:39.999
and I need your help.

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:42.232
Democracy in Israel
is under attack.

00:51:42.233 --> 00:51:45.832
NIF itself has been vilely
and untruthfully attacked

00:51:45.833 --> 00:51:48.199
for our support
of the very human rights

00:51:48.200 --> 00:51:49.866
and civil rights organizations

00:51:49.867 --> 00:51:52.132
that are one
of the main reasons...

00:51:52.133 --> 00:51:55.466
- In Tel Aviv, New Israel Fund
President Naomi Chazan

00:51:55.467 --> 00:51:58.366
was personally threatened.

00:51:58.367 --> 00:52:02.166
- The message that is being
conveyed is very clear,

00:52:02.167 --> 00:52:03.732
and that is,

00:52:03.733 --> 00:52:08.166
if you have another opinion,
that\'s wrong,

00:52:08.167 --> 00:52:12.032
and that any serious dissent
in Israel

00:52:12.033 --> 00:52:17.466
is being equated directly
with betrayal and with treason.

00:52:17.467 --> 00:52:22.666
Attacks have been started
by right-wing organizations.

00:52:22.667 --> 00:52:24.799
They get their funding
from Jewish donors

00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:28.700
or from Christian fundamentalist
groups in the United States.

00:52:30.467 --> 00:52:34.699
This is all about
Israel\'s future.

00:52:34.700 --> 00:52:36.932
If Israel is not democratic,

00:52:36.933 --> 00:52:39.667
it will not survive
for one minute.

00:52:45.233 --> 00:52:47.466
It\'s the pluralism

00:52:47.467 --> 00:52:51.199
and the diversity of ways
that one can love Israel

00:52:51.200 --> 00:52:54.399
that makes Israel
a vibrant society.

00:52:54.400 --> 00:52:56.400
- [speaking native language]

00:53:10.867 --> 00:53:13.699
- It\'s the same back home
in the United States:

00:53:13.700 --> 00:53:16.132
community leaders
demanding public silence

00:53:16.133 --> 00:53:19.232
when American Jews disagree
with Israeli policies.

00:53:19.233 --> 00:53:21.132
That alienates a lot of us

00:53:21.133 --> 00:53:23.632
who care about Israel\'s
safety and democracy

00:53:23.633 --> 00:53:26.599
but oppose the occupation
and settlements.

00:53:26.600 --> 00:53:29.066
A new political action group,
J Street,

00:53:29.067 --> 00:53:32.366
hopes to engage us to support
a more active U.S. role

00:53:32.367 --> 00:53:35.233
creating two states,
Israel and Palestine.

00:53:36.500 --> 00:53:38.432
We were eager to hear
what they were saying

00:53:38.433 --> 00:53:40.299
at their first
national conference.

00:53:40.300 --> 00:53:42.366
[applause]

00:53:42.367 --> 00:53:47.232
- We planned this conference
for 1,000 people,

00:53:47.233 --> 00:53:50.666
and when I told my staff that
back about nine months ago,

00:53:50.667 --> 00:53:53.566
they really wanted me
to get psychiatric help,

00:53:53.567 --> 00:53:55.999
and they said, you know,
\"Not only are you crazy.

00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:57.766
You\'re gonna drive us crazy.\"

00:53:57.767 --> 00:54:00.599
We just crossed 1,500 people
at registration.

00:54:00.600 --> 00:54:03.600
[cheers and applause]

00:54:09.233 --> 00:54:11.932
We\'ve raised our kids
to give to the poor,

00:54:11.933 --> 00:54:14.299
to help the hungry,
to stand up for the oppressed,

00:54:14.300 --> 00:54:17.099
to rally around everybody else
who is suffering in the world.

00:54:17.100 --> 00:54:18.899
So they\'re gonna see
the Palestinian people,

00:54:18.900 --> 00:54:21.132
and they\'re gonna say,
\"Why are they suffering?\"

00:54:21.133 --> 00:54:22.799
And we have to let them
ask that question,

00:54:22.800 --> 00:54:25.299
and we have to help them
understand the context

00:54:25.300 --> 00:54:27.332
and the history
and try to find their way

00:54:27.333 --> 00:54:30.799
and try to introduce them
in a way that allows them

00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:33.632
to apply their values
to the issue

00:54:33.633 --> 00:54:35.600
rather than have to check them
at the door.

00:54:41.067 --> 00:54:43.132
You know,
it\'s not a left politics.

00:54:43.133 --> 00:54:45.666
It\'s not based in morality.

00:54:45.667 --> 00:54:47.399
It\'s not based in human rights.

00:54:47.400 --> 00:54:50.499
It\'s based
in a realistic assessment of,

00:54:50.500 --> 00:54:53.399
how is Israel going to survive?

00:54:53.400 --> 00:54:56.666
It\'s a assessment
in a really cold,

00:54:56.667 --> 00:54:59.232
analytical way of,
how do you save Israel?

00:54:59.233 --> 00:55:02.332
And I think the only way
you save Israel is through peace

00:55:02.333 --> 00:55:03.999
and through a recognition
of the other.

00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:06.066
- Would those others
include supporters

00:55:06.067 --> 00:55:07.332
of boycott and divestment?

00:55:07.333 --> 00:55:08.632
- Absolutely.

00:55:08.633 --> 00:55:12.399
We think, actually, it\'s very
important for supporters

00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:13.832
of boycott and divestment

00:55:13.833 --> 00:55:16.099
to be invited
into the Jewish community

00:55:16.100 --> 00:55:17.432
in order to state their position

00:55:17.433 --> 00:55:19.899
and that we should be
talking to them

00:55:19.900 --> 00:55:22.099
and, if possible,
convincing them that

00:55:22.100 --> 00:55:26.366
that strategy isn\'t the best way
to achieve their goal.

00:55:26.367 --> 00:55:30.332
The best remedy for speech
that you don\'t like

00:55:30.333 --> 00:55:31.499
is more speech,

00:55:31.500 --> 00:55:33.699
not to close the door

00:55:33.700 --> 00:55:36.167
and prevent the people
from speaking.

00:55:38.900 --> 00:55:40.066
- While making this film,

00:55:40.067 --> 00:55:42.132
we\'ve seen more and more
college campuses

00:55:42.133 --> 00:55:44.999
become battlegrounds
over boycotts of Israel

00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:46.099
and where to draw the line

00:55:46.100 --> 00:55:48.900
between criticism of Israel
and anti-Semitism.

00:55:49.700 --> 00:55:50.766
Like their parents,

00:55:50.767 --> 00:55:53.199
Jewish students are divided
on these issues

00:55:53.200 --> 00:55:56.700
and often end up as leaders
on opposite sides of the debate.

00:56:14.567 --> 00:56:18.033
- Please file into
the back of the room first.

00:56:20.200 --> 00:56:21.866
Boycott, divestment,
and sanctions

00:56:21.867 --> 00:56:24.566
is a specific economic campaign

00:56:24.567 --> 00:56:26.732
fueled by a sense of frustration

00:56:26.733 --> 00:56:29.566
that governments
have not been successful

00:56:29.567 --> 00:56:31.766
in achieving an end
to the occupation.

00:56:31.767 --> 00:56:35.432
- I also am very worried
about some of the people

00:56:35.433 --> 00:56:38.699
who are involved in BDS
and some of the groups

00:56:38.700 --> 00:56:41.399
who I think are using it
as a way to undermine

00:56:41.400 --> 00:56:44.299
the very existence
of a state of Israel

00:56:44.300 --> 00:56:45.867
and of a state
for the Jewish people.

00:56:48.933 --> 00:56:52.632
- If the Berkeley Senate decides
that Israel

00:56:52.633 --> 00:56:54.999
is the world\'s moral criminal,

00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:57.632
then civilization is in trouble.

00:56:57.633 --> 00:56:59.300
That\'s why this is important.

00:57:07.200 --> 00:57:09.966
- I have a testimony
to share with you.

00:57:09.967 --> 00:57:11.799
My cousin became deathly ill,

00:57:11.800 --> 00:57:13.432
and my aunt and uncle
sought medical aid

00:57:13.433 --> 00:57:15.132
at the nearest hospital
in Jerusalem.

00:57:15.133 --> 00:57:16.832
They had to pass through
two checkpoints,

00:57:16.833 --> 00:57:18.332
and at the second checkpoint,

00:57:18.333 --> 00:57:21.332
Israeli soldiers ordered
the doctor out of the ambulance

00:57:21.333 --> 00:57:23.132
because he was from Gaza.

00:57:23.133 --> 00:57:24.699
They also prohibited my uncle

00:57:24.700 --> 00:57:26.232
from going
through the checkpoint.

00:57:26.233 --> 00:57:28.132
My cousin died in the ambulance

00:57:28.133 --> 00:57:30.132
before they could reach
the hospital,

00:57:30.133 --> 00:57:31.766
and my uncle was denied

00:57:31.767 --> 00:57:35.132
the last few precious moments
of his son\'s life.

00:57:35.133 --> 00:57:37.632
My cousin was only
two years old.

00:57:37.633 --> 00:57:41.099
If you do not support the bill,
know this truth.

00:57:41.100 --> 00:57:42.632
Palestinian children

00:57:42.633 --> 00:57:45.499
who will be killed
by these arms companies,

00:57:45.500 --> 00:57:48.166
their blood will be
on your hands.

00:57:48.167 --> 00:57:50.732
[applause]

00:57:50.733 --> 00:57:52.566
- At age 18, I moved to Israel

00:57:52.567 --> 00:57:54.699
and enlisted in the IDF
and served for three years

00:57:54.700 --> 00:57:57.132
as a combat soldier
fighting in Lebanon

00:57:57.133 --> 00:57:58.432
and throughout the West Bank.

00:57:58.433 --> 00:58:00.499
I served at checkpoints,

00:58:00.500 --> 00:58:02.166
and I always treated
Palestinians

00:58:02.167 --> 00:58:04.266
with the utmost respect
and dignity.

00:58:04.267 --> 00:58:07.666
I watched as children,
mentally disabled individuals,

00:58:07.667 --> 00:58:09.799
pregnant women in ambulances,

00:58:09.800 --> 00:58:13.866
were utilized to smuggle bombs
and weapons into Israel.

00:58:13.867 --> 00:58:15.266
I went on missions and watched

00:58:15.267 --> 00:58:18.332
as Palestinian gunmen
held children as human shields.

00:58:18.333 --> 00:58:19.333
- Liar!

00:58:19.333 --> 00:58:20.333
- We are dealing...

00:58:20.334 --> 00:58:22.999
I\'m not lying.
I saw this.

00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:26.299
- You don\'t have to minimize
the Jewish identity

00:58:26.300 --> 00:58:28.099
to affirm Palestinian rights.

00:58:28.100 --> 00:58:30.232
We do not seek
to destroy a people

00:58:30.233 --> 00:58:31.699
or dismantle a state.

00:58:31.700 --> 00:58:34.199
We simply want to send a message
to a government

00:58:34.200 --> 00:58:37.199
that, yes, you, too, are
accountable for your violations.

00:58:37.200 --> 00:58:40.666
- I\'m here tonight
to tell you that I\'m tired.

00:58:40.667 --> 00:58:43.199
I\'m tired of feeling oppressed
on this campus,

00:58:43.200 --> 00:58:45.766
and I\'m tired that other people
feel oppressed on this campus,

00:58:45.767 --> 00:58:48.599
and I\'m tired that the last time
I was at a Senate meeting,

00:58:48.600 --> 00:58:52.732
I was called a Nazi,
a white supremacist, and a kike,

00:58:52.733 --> 00:58:54.699
and not a single one of you
said anything about it.

00:58:54.700 --> 00:58:56.867
This bill has destroyed
my world.

00:58:57.933 --> 00:58:59.299
- I\'m Jewish Israeli.

00:58:59.300 --> 00:59:01.967
I grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel.

00:59:03.367 --> 00:59:09.232
The land on which
my family\'s house is,

00:59:09.233 --> 00:59:12.532
I discovered it was
a village called Sumail,

00:59:12.533 --> 00:59:16.866
and there are refugees
from that village in Israel

00:59:16.867 --> 00:59:18.200
and in refugee camps.

00:59:19.367 --> 00:59:22.366
Facing those facts
makes me feel very fearful.

00:59:22.367 --> 00:59:25.999
It doesn\'t make me feel
comfortable facing those things,

00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:28.432
but I think that\'s
the only way forward,

00:59:28.433 --> 00:59:30.499
and that\'s the reason why
we are supporting this bill.

00:59:30.500 --> 00:59:33.632
- My uncle is one
of the chief cardiologists

00:59:33.633 --> 00:59:35.199
at the Technion University,

00:59:35.200 --> 00:59:38.799
the equivalent of MIT
here in the United States.

00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:44.832
And three years ago,

00:59:44.833 --> 00:59:46.299
he was killed
by a suicide bomber

00:59:46.300 --> 00:59:49.232
while trying to aid
a Palestinian girl

00:59:49.233 --> 00:59:50.966
in a bypass surgery.

00:59:50.967 --> 00:59:53.232
- I don\'t want to deny
the psychological reality

00:59:53.233 --> 00:59:54.766
of the Jewish students
who are here.

00:59:54.767 --> 00:59:56.199
I want to tell you \"la baque.\"

00:59:56.200 --> 00:59:57.499
That means I am here.

00:59:57.500 --> 00:59:59.432
The Muslim Students Association,
we are here.

00:59:59.433 --> 01:00:01.532
We are saying that we will
look at you in the eye,

01:00:01.533 --> 01:00:04.232
and this means
I am here to serve you.

01:00:04.233 --> 01:00:05.866
It is a oath.

01:00:05.867 --> 01:00:09.132
It is an oath and a declaration
that I am here.

01:00:09.133 --> 01:00:10.999
La Baque!

01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:14.000
[cheers and applause]

01:00:16.433 --> 01:00:18.899
- Hi, everyone,
I\'m Senator Boone.

01:00:18.900 --> 01:00:21.466
I\'m the only
Jewish student to...

01:00:21.467 --> 01:00:23.632
Jewish senator to vote
in support

01:00:23.633 --> 01:00:27.466
of divestment from Israel.

01:00:27.467 --> 01:00:30.099
Being a first-generation
American on my mother\'s side

01:00:30.100 --> 01:00:32.532
and a Jewish student with
a family of Holocaust survivors,

01:00:32.533 --> 01:00:35.466
I am blessed
in being given the chance

01:00:35.467 --> 01:00:38.332
to do right by my ancestors
and my communities tonight,

01:00:38.333 --> 01:00:40.132
to do the least
that is asked of me,

01:00:40.133 --> 01:00:41.699
to stand up
for rights of the oppressed

01:00:41.700 --> 01:00:42.932
when I see the opportunity,

01:00:42.933 --> 01:00:45.266
and to vote to divest
once and for all.

01:00:45.267 --> 01:00:47.066
Thank you.

01:00:47.067 --> 01:00:50.067
[cheers and applause]

01:00:52.933 --> 01:00:55.232
- We\'re now going to vote
on the motion

01:00:55.233 --> 01:00:57.499
to override the veto of SB 118.

01:00:57.500 --> 01:01:00.499
- Adam.
- Aye.

01:01:00.500 --> 01:01:02.466
- Bott.
- Nay.

01:01:02.467 --> 01:01:04.199
- Boone.
- Aye.

01:01:04.200 --> 01:01:05.499
- Carleton.
- Aye.

01:01:05.500 --> 01:01:06.832
- Cohen.
- Nay.

01:01:06.833 --> 01:01:08.032
- De Leon.
- Aye.

01:01:08.033 --> 01:01:09.332
- Franco.
- Aye.

01:01:09.333 --> 01:01:10.799
- Gala.

01:01:10.800 --> 01:01:12.866
- Stern.
- Nay.

01:01:12.867 --> 01:01:15.300
- This motion
to override the veto fails.

01:01:19.100 --> 01:01:20.766
- We are constant gardeners,
right?

01:01:20.767 --> 01:01:22.832
Our stories are seeds.

01:01:22.833 --> 01:01:25.366
So what I want to ask you to do,

01:01:25.367 --> 01:01:26.932
as many of you
are already doing,

01:01:26.933 --> 01:01:28.732
is put your left hand
over your mouth,

01:01:28.733 --> 01:01:31.366
to represent the silence
we\'ve experienced for decades.

01:01:31.367 --> 01:01:33.932
And put your right hand
in the air,

01:01:33.933 --> 01:01:39.532
because nothing speaks louder
than a fistful of seeds.

01:01:39.533 --> 01:01:41.032
So now we will
walk out silently.

01:01:41.033 --> 01:01:42.200
Thank you.

01:01:47.100 --> 01:01:49.199
- What\'s clearly next is,
this is going to spread

01:01:49.200 --> 01:01:51.432
to campuses all over.

01:01:51.433 --> 01:01:53.900
And now it\'s just
a matter of time as it grows.

01:02:00.567 --> 01:02:04.232
- We identify with the student\'s
passion against the occupation.

01:02:04.233 --> 01:02:07.399
Like us and our parents,
they are challenging injustice

01:02:07.400 --> 01:02:10.866
and demanding their turn
to create a new world.

01:02:10.867 --> 01:02:12.832
But we\'ve seen how
idealistic followers

01:02:12.833 --> 01:02:15.832
of movements for justice
can lose their way,

01:02:15.833 --> 01:02:19.066
coming to justify prejudice
and violence.

01:02:19.067 --> 01:02:20.466
We flirt with danger

01:02:20.467 --> 01:02:24.466
when we link our political
convictions to moral absolutes,

01:02:24.467 --> 01:02:28.967
whether we think we have God,
justice, or history on our side.

01:02:41.700 --> 01:02:43.532
- You\'re staying for...

01:02:43.533 --> 01:02:44.666
Good.
Good.

01:02:44.667 --> 01:02:47.299
- We had no idea
we would become obsessed.

01:02:47.300 --> 01:02:50.300
[voices overlapping]

01:02:54.767 --> 01:02:56.767
- I\'ll see you inside.

01:02:59.433 --> 01:03:05.500
[triumphant organ music]

01:03:11.467 --> 01:03:13.099
- A year has passed.

01:03:13.100 --> 01:03:16.432
It\'s now the Jewish Film
Festival\'s 30th anniversary.

01:03:16.433 --> 01:03:18.799
The festival survived,
even flourished,

01:03:18.800 --> 01:03:21.432
with large
and enthusiastic audiences.

01:03:21.433 --> 01:03:24.166
The protesters are nowhere
in sight.

01:03:24.167 --> 01:03:26.299
The battle seems
to have moved elsewhere,

01:03:26.300 --> 01:03:27.632
even when the festival shows

01:03:27.633 --> 01:03:30.932
a potentially
controversial film.

01:03:30.933 --> 01:03:33.933
[cheers and applause]

01:03:36.733 --> 01:03:38.299
- Good evening.

01:03:38.300 --> 01:03:41.666
Many of you right now
might be slightly...

01:03:41.667 --> 01:03:42.999
You\'re excited to see the film,

01:03:43.000 --> 01:03:44.499
but maybe you\'re
a little bit nervous.

01:03:44.500 --> 01:03:45.532
I know I am,

01:03:45.533 --> 01:03:46.866
because the last time
I stood in front of you

01:03:46.867 --> 01:03:48.932
when there was a kind of
conflict-oriented film,

01:03:48.933 --> 01:03:51.799
it was the beginning
of a kind of...

01:03:51.800 --> 01:03:54.966
I call it my \"annus horribilis.\"

01:03:54.967 --> 01:03:56.866
- It had been a horrible year

01:03:56.867 --> 01:03:59.732
for Peter Stein
and the festival community,

01:03:59.733 --> 01:04:02.599
but now the debate has subsided.

01:04:02.600 --> 01:04:05.666
They\'re giving the annual
Freedom of Expression award

01:04:05.667 --> 01:04:07.199
to Sayed Kashua,

01:04:07.200 --> 01:04:10.099
a Palestinian-Israeli
screenwriter and novelist

01:04:10.100 --> 01:04:13.000
known for his biting satire
of Israeli society.

01:04:17.700 --> 01:04:19.799
- The Israeli Consul General
is at the theatre

01:04:19.800 --> 01:04:21.466
to lend support.

01:04:21.467 --> 01:04:23.832
We would hope it\'s a victory
for free speech

01:04:23.833 --> 01:04:25.167
and the right to dissent.

01:04:29.967 --> 01:04:32.399
- But our journey over this year
has taught us

01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:35.233
that it\'s more likely to be
just a temporary cease-fire.

01:04:37.667 --> 01:04:39.933
None of the polarizing issues
have been resolved.

01:04:41.733 --> 01:04:44.132
Who is entitled
to speak for the tribe?

01:04:44.133 --> 01:04:47.599
Who gets banished
for crossing the lines?

01:04:47.600 --> 01:04:50.067
What happens
when our faith is challenged?

01:04:52.067 --> 01:04:54.732
[laughter]

01:04:54.733 --> 01:04:56.032
More than anything else,

01:04:56.033 --> 01:04:58.866
we\'ve found that the intense
debates we\'ve encountered

01:04:58.867 --> 01:05:01.166
reflect
a rapidly changing community

01:05:01.167 --> 01:05:04.832
and its hopes and fears
for the future.

01:05:04.833 --> 01:05:07.066
The boundaries of identity
are shifting

01:05:07.067 --> 01:05:10.032
in radical
and unpredictable ways.

01:05:10.033 --> 01:05:13.866
For us and for the next
generation of American Jews,

01:05:13.867 --> 01:05:15.900
the story is still unfolding.

01:05:18.700 --> 01:05:24.700
[mid-tempo
guitar and drum music]