This Saturday, January 11, from noon to 2:30 p.m. the Connecticut-based Palestine Museum US will sponsor a free virtual screening of the documentary film “The Palestine Exception.”
The film explores last year’s college protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, with academics asserting that political and major media attempts to label these protests as antisemitic reflect a modern form of McCarthyism. On its website, creators of “The Palestine Exception” argue that “As students across the country organize protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, decades-long taboos in academia around criticism of Israel –– the ‘Palestine exception’ –– are shattered. This film features professors and students as they join calls for a ceasefire and divestment from companies that do business with Israel and face waves of crackdown from administrators, the media, the police, and politicians.”
This screening is part of the museum’s regular Saturday programming of films and discussions, Palestine Museum US’s founder Faisal Saleh told the Amsterdam News. “Our mission is to tell the Palestinian story to a global audience through the art[s]. We see film as a form of art. And we obviously want to make sure people understand the Palestinian narrative at a time when a lot of other forces would try to shut down the Palestinian narrative.”
Those who register for the screening can view the film from anywhere in the world. It’s part of the Palestine Museum US’s effort to feature art that tells the story of the Palestinian people –– a story that has not changed for 75 years, Saleh points out. The museum often shows Palestinian films that are 30 or 40 years old, yet they feature protagonists dealing with the same issues Palestinians deal with today.
Saleh says “The Palestine Exception” is important because it looks at the current political atmosphere on college campuses and in the major media. “If another country was doing this –– like in the Ukraine, for instance –– everyone would be against it. But there is an exception here where anytime anybody tries to support the Palestinian cause, regardless of how truthful and just it is, they get dumped on and they get attacked viciously.”
Those who want to watch the film will need to register so that there is a record of who is attending because, Saleh explained, there have been times when people have signed up for the museum’s film showings and acted inappropriately during the online discussion period, often becoming offensive to others in attendance.
Registering for the event, “Allows us to know who’s watching our films,” Saleh said. “And this way, we can also invite them to watch other films in the future.”
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