Screening of “Israelism”
This session features Israelism, a documentary following two young Jewish Americans, Simone Zimmerman and Eitan, as they confront Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and challenge traditional views within their community. The film examines the growing generational divide over Jewish identity and Israel’s role in American Judaism. After the screening, Simone Zimmerman with Tareq Baconi and Daniel Levy will discuss the film’s themes and the evolving relationship between Jewish Americans and Israel, followed by an audience Q/A.
Tareq Baconi
Tareq Baconi is a writer. He is the author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance (Stanford University Press, 2018). His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the Washington Post, among others. He is the former senior analyst for Israel/Palestine at the International Crisis Group based in Ramallah. He serves as the president of the board of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.
Daniel Levy
Daniel Levy is the President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), which advances an Israeli-Palestinian peace in which international legality and equality is upheld, respecting the rights of all people. USMEP also looks at regional conflicts, trends, and geopolitics. From 2012 to 2016, he was Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to that, he was a senior Fellow and Director of the New America Foundation’s Middle East Taskforce in Washington, D.C.
Simone Zimmerman
Simone Zimmerman is an organizer and strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the protagonist of the film Israelism, about the deepening generational divide in the American Jewish community over Israel and Palestine. She is a co-founder of the US-based Jewish anti-apartheid organization IfNotNow, which has been a part of the ceasefire mobilizations across the US since October 7. She is currently the director of Media & Special Projects for the Diaspora Alliance, an international organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism and its instrumentalization. She also serves on the board of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Action and the Advisory Board of Jewish Currents Magazine.