MARBLEHEAD — Protesters camped outside the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead on Sunday afternoon before what they called an anti-Semitic film was set to be screened.
A free movie screening of “The Occupation of the American Mind” was held at the church on Sunday. Before the screening, at least 30 people were protesting outside the church.
After the church announced its intention to show the film, local rabbis spoke out against the screening and there was a campaign to try to prevent the church from showing the film.
Howard Rich, a Marblehead resident, said he came out “to protest the showing of this vile movie.
“I’ve seen it,” Rich said. “It’s out of context. They’re out and out lies. In my opinion, it’s very anti-Semitic and then it argues that Jews control the media in the United States, which is not true. It has actual factual errors that are incredibly bad.”
Rich said showing the film “was an insult to the Jewish community of the North Shore. It really is insulting. You can call it a poke in the eye … Marblehead is a good community and it’s very unfortunate this church has allowed this film to be shown.”
The film, produced by the Media Education Foundation, advertises itself as a documentary addressing Israel’s public relations war in the United States. A flyer for the event reads that the film is about the question of human rights, not anti-Semitism.
“Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory and its settlements have impeded the peace process and fueled condemnation of Israel policies around the world, except in the United States,” reads a description of the film.
Sut Jhally, executive director of the Media Education Foundation and executive producer of the film, was in attendance on Sunday, and thanked the church for putting the event on in light of the intense pressure to cancel it.
“People are of course free to protest and disagree about the film, but the issue is how that’s done,” Jhally said. “At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. and in Europe, and at the same time connected to white supremacy, calling people who you disagree with anti-Semites, as has happened in the leadup to this film … it actually weakens the fight against real anti-Semitism … The charge of anti-Semitism is meant to stop you (from) thinking.”
Jhally said the goal of pro-Israel media coverage is to get people to stop thinking about Palestine, to make sure that Americans do not see them as human in the same way that they see the Israelis. He said anti-Semitic charges are made on anything that is critical of the policies of Israel.
Yael, a Swampscott resident and native of Israel, who asked that her last name not be used, was protesting the film on Sunday. “It’s filled with lies against Israel … The reason for the film is to create more hate and anti-Semitism.”
