Israel/Palestine: A Very Short Introduction (Video) – from Jewish Voice for Peace
The Truth About Israel by Miko Peled, Israeli General’s Son (video)
Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer by Joel Beinin and Lisa Hajja
Palestinian Civil Society – Call for BDS
Fact Sheet: The Nakba: 65 Years Of Dispossession & Apartheid – by the Institute for Middle East Understanding
US Military Aid to Israel – by Jewish Voice for Peace
The Gaza Strip – One Big Prison – by B’Tselem (PDF)
Documentary: Justice and Accountability in Gaza – by Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (VIDEO)
Stolen Hope: Political Detention in the West Bank – by Addameer (PDF)
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return – from Mondoweiss
Arrested Development – The Long Term Impact of the Israeli Separation Barrier in the West Bank – by B’Tselem (PDF)
Illegal Israeli Settlements – by the Council for European-Palestinian Relations (CEPR)
A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance by Mary Elizabeth King
Boycott Divestment Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti
Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience by Alice Rothchild
Homeland: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians edited by Staughton Lynd, Sam Bahour, and Alice Lynd
Palestine by Joe Sacco (graphic novel)
Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness by Rashid Khalidi
Reframing Anti-Semitism: Alternative Jewish Perspectives edited by Jewish Voice for Peace
The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977 by Gershon Gorenberg
The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, by Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt
The Question of Palestine by Edward Said
Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer by Phyllis Bennis
Wrestling in the Daylight – Rabbi Brant Rosen
Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict edited by Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon
“A PCHR report on attacks perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian medical personnel during the IOF military offensive in Gaza 27 December 2008” – Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
“Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism” Rabbi Brian Walt
“Election: Ignoring and Ostracizing Some LGBTQ People Through Homonationalism” by Jason Lyndon
Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine – from ItISApartheid.org
Briefing: “Farming Injustice – International trade with Israeli agricultural companies and the destruction of Palestinian farming” – from BDSmovement.net
Fragmentation of the West Bank – from ItISApartheid.org
Investigate – find out what you are invested in, and whether you should DIVEST! From the American Friends Service Committee.
“Israel, Palestine, and Queers” – by Haneen Maikey and Jason Ritchie
Jewish Voice for Peace – Activist Toolkit
“Pinkwash, Greenwash, Hogwash: Ali Abunimah on Israel’s use of sex and marketing to distract from apartheid”- from Electronic Intifada
Resources on Black America and Palestine – from the US Campaign to End the Occupation
The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere: Making Resistance to Anti-Semitism Part of All our Movements by April Rosenblum (zine)
Thoughts About Our Role and Work as Jews Committed to Justice in Palestine by Elisha Baskin and Donna Nevel – From Mondoweiss
“When ‘J’ means ‘Jewish’ not ‘Justice’” by Heike Schotten – from Mondoweiss
Zionism Unsettled – A Congregational Study Guide by Israel/Palestine Mission Network. This is a link to PURCHASE the guide.
Just Vision is an organization that works to increase the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working to end the occupation and resolve the conflict nonviolently. They have produced several award-winning films, including:
5 Broken Cameras (Also currently available on Netflix instant streaming.)
Voices Across the Divide, by Alice Rothchild (Soon to be released)
Rabbi Brant Rosen – A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity : Book Talk (YOUTUBE)
Stone Cold Justice – Australian TV Documentary (YOUTUBE)
Palestine Freedom Riders (VIMEO)
Edward Said Memorial Lecture (VIDEO)
What It’s Like to Live In Occupied Territories (from WGBH, with JVP Boston folks on panel!)
*Israel/Palestine Impasse (VIMEO):
Films that gather a small group are a terrific way to engage people in learning, reflection, and, hopefully, action. We invite you to make use of our curated collection and spread the word. Please read the fine print at the end.
Full list of films:
JVPfreefilmsMar2017
Films by categories:
Filmcategories
Here’s a selection of those films:
Documentaries
Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk about Hebron
38 min. 2005
Defamation
I 1⁄2 hours 2008
Examines contemporary anti-Semitism and the possibility of a modern-day Jewish holocaust. (Will spark lots of discussion.)
Five Broken Cameras
1 1⁄2 hours 2012
An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is adeeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. (Review from Rotten Tomatoes)
The Gatekeepers
101 minutes 2012
This film tells the story of the Israeli internal security service, Shin Bet, from the perspective of six of its former heads. It shows the role that they played in Israel’s security from the Six-Day War to the present.
Little Town of Bethlehem
11⁄4 hours 2010
A true story of three men in a land gripped by fear, hatred, and division. Expected to be enemies, they work together to end the cycle of violence.
Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority
1 1⁄2 hrs. 2007
Details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the obstacles in the way of a lasting and viable peace. (One of the best comprehensive resources for understanding the Occupation.)
The War Around Us
75 min. 2012
In dramatic fashion, the film captures the personal agonies and isolation of the only two reporters covering Israel’s 2008 war on Gaza, in which 1400 civilians died. It received a standing ovation at the 2012 Boston Palestine Film Festival. Works for a wide range of audiences.
Non-Documentaries
Laila’s Birthday
71 min. 2009
On his young daughter’s birthday, like any day, Abu Laila faces a nerve-wracking shift in a Ramallah yellow cab armed only with an ex-jurist’s misplaced pride, a father’s loyalty, and a sticker reminding passengers that smoking and carrying AK-47 s are prohibited… Laila’s Birthday finds surprising humor and remarkable humanity in the fares Abu plucks from the social free fall of a city upended by war, and in the unyielding and often misplaced belief in the rule of law to which its unlikely hero clings en route to a hoped-for family reunion.
Omar
98 min. 2013
Omar is a thriller and a romance with unabashedly melodramatic elements (there’s even a love triangle), all of which are brought into stark relief by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Helped along by an amazing cast of mostly first-time actors, “Omar” feels very fresh due to its attitude, approach, and the fact that it offers no solutions.” Roger Ebert
Salt of this Sea
104 min. 2009
Sixty years after her grandparents’ exile from Jaffe, Soraya (Suheir Hammad) leaves Brooklyn to live in her homeland. An urgent and devastating portrait of life under Occupation. (Conveys the claustrophia of living in Palestine on many levels: physically, spiritually, emotionally.)
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*These films treat both sides as equal in the conflict. We include them because they may be a good entry into a desire for a fuller understanding of the conflict in Israel/Palestine.
The comments in parentheses are Diana and Pam’s impressions, not those of JVP Boston!
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The Fine Print
To borrow a film, email us at jvpboston@gmail.com
Our guidelines:
a) Watch the trailer before ordering a film.
b) Consider your audience: “Trigger Warnings” apply! These films sometimes depict graphic violence and despair. However, there is often humor – and resilience – present as well.
c) In all cases, these films are licensed for in-home viewing. If you’d like to show them in a larger venue, you must contact the distributor of the film.
d) As always, we appreciate film suggestions and donations to our film fund! Several of the films we have were given to us. If you are similarly moved to send us something that, in your view, is mandatory viewing, we will be grateful.
We would be glad to talk with you about the films! Email us at jvpboston@gmail.com and we’ll arrange a time to talk.
Pam Rogers & Diana Digges for JVP Boston
This Week in Palestine is a radio program that presents news, commentary, and interviews from the Palestinian perspective every Sunday morning, 8 to 8:45 a.m. on WZBC 90.3 FM. It can be streamed live on your computer HERE. (Listen Live, or click on ZBC archive stream).
Aid to Israel
Amnesty International – Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Aswat: a group of lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning and queer Palestinian women
Badil: Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk About the Occupied Territories
B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
*Burst the Bubble: Boycott Sodastream!
Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church USA (IPMN)
New Profile: Movement for the Demilitarization of Israeli Society
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (Toronto)
QUIT! Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
United Methodist Holy Land Task Force