ISRAELISM: watch award-winning documentary for free
The highly acclaimed film examines a generational divide on Palestine among Jewish Americans; many younger Jews are highly critical of Israel, while older generations remain staunch Zionists.
You can watch Israelism for free (with ads) on Tubi, Roku, and other platforms, or rent/own Israelism on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, or YouTube.
I took it as a good omen that literally as I was typing this post, my friend Devin texted me out of the blue and said:
“Have you seen ISRAELISM film? It’s a pretty good doc. The conflict since 10/7 is hard to discuss with people and break through the mis/disinformation, but this doc does a good job showing the state of Palestinian existence under apartheid as well as the indoctrination into Zionism that would be easy for regular people to understand.”
I explained to him that as a matter of fact I would be recommending ISRAELISM to all of my Substack followers today, and that he is the second ultimate frisbee friend I know who watched and strongly recommended the film.
Released in 2023 and directed by two Jewish filmmakers who share a similar story to the film’s protagonists, ISRAELISM bills itself as “uniquely exploring how Jewish attitudes towards Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and for Judaism itself.”
ISRAELISM is the directorial debut of Erin Axelman, a queer Jewish filmmaker based out of Somerville, MA. Erin has previously produced videos for Senator Ed Markey, as well as recently unseated former Congressman Jamaal Bowman.
It is also the directorial debut of Sam Eilertsen, though Eilertsen had already worked for a decade as a cinematographer and editor on narrative and documentary projects before collaborating with Axelman on this film.
Axelman and Eilertsen are also the founders of Tikkun Olam Productions, a nonprofit filmmaking collective that focuses on documenting and supporting movements for justice. Of course, critics of the film and supporters of the state of Israel have accused them of being antisemites despite the fact that both are Jewish.
Here is the official description of ISRAELISM from its website:
“Two young American Jews - Simone Zimmerman and Eitan - are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military. Simone supports Israel on ‘the other battlefield:’ America’s college campuses. When they witness Israel's mistreatment of the Palestinian people with their own eyes, they are horrified and heartbroken.
They join the movement of young American Jews battling the old guard over Israel’s centrality in American Judaism, and demanding freedom for the Palestinian people. Their stories reveal a generational divide in the American Jewish community as more young Jews question the narratives their synagogues and Hebrew school teachers fed them as children.
The film also features voices like Jacqui Schulefand, a Jewish educator who says “Judaism is Israel and Israel is Judaism,” and former Anti-Defamation League President Abe Foxman, who claims voices like Simone and Eitan’s represent a small minority. Thought leaders like Peter Beinart, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Noura Erakat, Cornel West, and Noam Chomsky also weigh in.”
I asked my friend Jackie Goldman about ISRAELISM as well. Jackie, who traveled to the occupied West Bank of Palestine with me in 2023 (and then joined the first ever Palestinian women’s club ultimate frisbee team at a tournament in Jordan), is very active in Jewish anti-Zionist organizing circles in Rhode Island. They were raised in a conservative Jewish community here in the northeastern United States, and they said they saw a lot of parallels in the documentary to their own personal arc of understanding of Israel and Palestine.
“I found that Israelism really captured what it was like to grow up in a Jewish community being force-fed Zionist propaganda all the time, and it was pretty amazing to see my own experience reflected back to me so clearly. I was someone who went on birthright and really felt like Israel was a huge part of my Jewish identity, and then as I began to see all that Zionism was lying about, I had to do a lot of unlearning that I think was captured for me in part by Israelism - I think I had a similar process - but a few years into all of that, I went to Palestine,” said Jackie.
“Seeing how life there actually operated was something that was just so distinct and so different from everything I was taught…I had already been feeling a really deep sense of betrayal from a lot of my educators and members of the Jewish community before that, but then to see the violence that Palestinians face every single day really put that in stark relief,” Jackie continued. “Pulling apart the relationship between Judaism and Zionism has been really powerful for me, and it is something that I think a lot more Jewish people need to be doing, and they need to understand that what they are being fed is propaganda.”
“Pulling apart the relationship between Judaism and Zionism has been really powerful for me, and it is something that I think a lot more Jewish people need to be doing, and they need to understand that what they are being fed is propaganda.”
The film’s website has a page featuring video testimonials of similar “Israelism Stories,” characterized as “stories of American Jewish transformation in relation to Israel-Palestine.”
Al Jazeera English is currently broadcasting Israelism for free to viewers across the world for a limited time. Al Jazeera has split the film into shorter episodes — the first episode aired at 8 a.m. EST on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Additionally, anyone can organize a public or private screening of Israelism anywhere in the world, at any time. Go to Screen ISRAELISM and follow the instructions to organize your own screening.
You can watch Israelism for free (with ads) on Tubi, Roku, and other platforms, or rent/own Israelism on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, or YouTube.
Interview subjects featured in ISRAELISM:
Simone Zimmerman - co-founder of IfNotNow Movement
Eitan - American veteran of the Israeli military
Abraham ‘Abe’ Foxman - Anti-Defamation League (ADL) President Emeritus
Jacqui Schulefand - UCONN Hillel coordinator for Jewish student life
Sami Awad - Holy Land Trust executive director
Lara Friedman - Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) President
Rabbi Bennett Miller - Immediate Past Chair, Association of Reform Zionists of America
Jeremy Ben-Ami - J Street President
Noura Erakat - Human Rights Attorney, Rutgers University faculty member
Peter Beinart - Editor-at-large, Jewish Currents (magazine)
Dr. Cornel West - Professor, Union Theological Seminary
Noam Chomsky - Laureate Professor, University of Arizona
Rebecca Pierce - Writer and Filmmaker
Baha Hilo - Palestine tour guide, To Be There
Sarah Anne Minkin, Phd. - FMEP Director of Programs and Partnerships
Rabbi Miriam Grossman - Kolot Chayeinu Congregation (Brooklyn)