March 07, 2010

Broadcast Date: 
Mar 7 2010

Israel ratchets up campaign against dissenters, internal and external; a new report out from Breaking the Silence features troubling testimony from women soldiers; plus a look at Veit Harlan, the man behind the notorious Nazi propaganda film Jew Suss.

Episode segments
  • Israel Pushes Back Against Dissenters
    American Politics, Israeli Politics, Israel/Palestine, Occupation
    Cecilie Surasky is the Deputy Director of Jewish Voice For Peace
    Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark

    Another in our monthly conversations with Cecilie Surasky of Jewish Voice for Peace and its blogs, Muzzlewatch and The Only Democracy?   As Palestinian-led non-violent protests grow along with the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and support for the Goldstone Report, so too has the Israeli government's push back against its critics both at home and abroad.  Cecilie Surasky brings us up-to-date on the latest developments.

    In our conversation with Cecilie we talk about some new ads, targeted to the Israeli public, part of an initiative called Making the Case for Israel. To view the ads, on the Hebrew website, click here.

     

  • Breaking the Silence
    Israeli Politics, Israel/Palestine, Occupation
    Dana Golan is the Executive Director of Breaking The Silence and a former lieutenant in the Israeli Defense Forces.
    Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark

    Since its formation in 2004, Breaking The Silence has been collecting and publishing the testimonies of soldiers about what they have done during their service in Israel's military (the IDF).  These testimonies provide a counter narrative to that promoted by the Israeli government and believed by most of Israel's supporters, the notion that Israel has the most moral army in the world.  We talk with Dana Golan about the reaction of the military and civil society to these testimonies and about their most recent report, Women Soldiers' Testimonies.

  • Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss
    Holocaust, Film, Arts & Culture

    Felix Moeller is the writer and director of Harlan: In the Shadow of Jud Suss now screening at Manhattan's Film Forum.

    Jessica Jacoby is a granddaughter of Veit Harlan.  Her paternal grandparents were Jewish and were murdered by the Nazis.
    Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark

    Veit Harlan was one of Germany's best known filmmakers during the Third Reich.  Millions in occupied Europe saw his films, the most notorious of which was Jew Suss.  Based on a real historical figure, Joseph Suss Oppenheimer, an 18th century banker for the Duke of Wurttemberg, the Harlan film was viciously anti-Semitic.  The documentary, Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss , examines Harlan's life, his work and the impact his legacy has had on his deeply divided descendants.  We talk with the filmmaker, Felix Moeller, and Harlan's granddaughter, Jessica Jacoby.