Takoma Park goes forward with plan to screen film highly-critical of Israel July 23

JCRC protests decision;

CAIR calls effort to cancel

movie night "cowardly"

Takoma Park's Mayor and Council is pressing forward with the rescheduled screening of "Occupation of the American Mind" on Tuesday, July 23, 2019 from 7:00-9:30 PM in the auditorium of the Takoma Park Community Center, located at 7500 Maple Avenue. They are again being heavily criticized by some residents and local Jewish organizations for proceeding with the rescheduled screening of the Roger Waters-narrated film, which is highly critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and territorial occupation.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington has again written to Takoma Park officials asking them to call off the screening. A prior screening this summer was postponed after the controversy reached national and international news outlets. The city arts organization hosting the screening abruptly changed its name after it was identified in those news reports.

This second time around, Takoma Park extended an invitation to the JCRC to have a representative participate in a discussion panel about the film. In a response to city leaders, JCRC Executive Director Ronald Halber and Maryland Community Relations Director Meredith Mirman Weisel declined the invite, saying they could not join a roundtable that included representatives of "organizations explicitly opposed to the very existence of the State of Israel and the right of the Jewish people to self-determination,"

JCRC is now calling on the community to petition City leaders to cancel the new screening, and have set up an action page on their website to assist in those communications. Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart said she is "disappointed" that the JCRC declined the city's invitation to participate in the screening panel. She said she and the City Council "do not endorse" the content of the film, but are trying to "create a space for people to listen, critique, discuss, and learn from each other."

Stewart said the city is bringing in a "professional facilitator" named Theo Brown to moderate the screening program. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld and Maharat Ruth Friedman of Ohev Shalom Synagogue, Matthew Mayers of J Street, and Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine will participate in the post-screening discussion. Others have been invited, and the list may be updated, city officials said.

Some residents strongly support the screening, and have said canceling it would be censorship. The JCRC says they are opposing the screening on the grounds that it is taxpayer-funded.

Muslim advocacy organization CAIR praised Stewart for standing her ground on the movie plans. "In their handling of this situation, Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart and the city council demonstrated a level of moral leadership, courage and professionalism that is often missing in political spaces today," CAIR Director of Maryland Outreach Zainab Chaudry said in a statement. "We applaud them for not capitulating to cowardly attempts to erase narratives that are often missing in our national discourse."

Photo via "Occupation of the American Mind" official website