Documentary Fuels Academic Freedom Debates
Kathryn Palmer | 07 December 2023 | Inside Higher Ed
A documentary about two young Jewish Americans who question their loyalty to Israel after traveling to the country and the West Bank has become a flash point in the academic freedom debates consuming some college campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The award-winning film, Israelism, debuted at a film festival earlier this year and more than 60 screenings of it were planned—many on college campuses—across the country this fall and winter. Most of the screenings so far have happened without incident, but at Hunter College in New York and the University of Pennsylvania, the documentary has been the source of controversy over the past month.
Students at Penn are now facing possible disciplinary action after screening the film last week despite university administrators reportedly telling them to postpone the event….