WELLFLEET — The organization Wellfleet for Palestine organized a screening of the 2016 documentary film The Occupation of the American Mind on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at the Wellfleet Public Library. While about 70 people watched the film, about 20 protesters carried signs outside.
The film examines the role of lobbying in influencing American news media, public opinion, and foreign policy toward both Israel and Palestine. News of the screening provoked a backlash, with protesters calling the film anti-Semitic, but the film and discussion afterward went forward civilly.
Wellfleet Executive Assistant Rebekah Eldridge said she began receiving calls and messages from people asking the town to halt the showing on Friday, including a deluge of more than 1,200 formulaic emails that accused the library of promoting anti-Semitism, saying, “we hold you responsible for inciting violence.”
Town Administrator Tom Guerino released a statement on Monday saying that the film would be shown in accordance with the organizers’ First Amendment rights.
Library Director Jennifer Wertkin told the Independent Monday that “Wellfleet for Palestine reserved the room in accordance with our policy, and they are allowed to do that. We are a public institution. Use of the meeting room does not imply an endorsement by the library of the opinions being expressed.”
Protestor Cheryl Mavrikos from South Yarmouth told the Independent that the film promotes anti-Semitism by discussing the ways that the “Israel Lobby,” as the film calls it, shapes public perception of the Israel-Palestine conflict. She compared this to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about a “Jewish cabal.” Mavrikos did not dispute the claim that pro-Israel organizations provide substantial funding to American politicians.
Farrukh Najmi, a founding member of Wellfleet for Palestine, told the Independent that the screening was part of a film series the group puts on to “educate people and present a narrative that is lacking in mainstream media.”
He disputed the notion that the film is anti-Semitic and said that Wellfleet for Palestine has a number of Jewish and Israeli members. “It’s part of our charter that we will not tolerate any form of hate, including anti-Semitism,” he said. “If criticizing Netanyahu or criticizing Israel … is anti-Semitic, then we are in a very dark place.”
Approximately 20 people who gathered outside the library before the screening held signs reading “hate speech is not free speech” and “Cape Cod stands with Israel.” Most of the protestors the Independent spoke to said they had heard about the screening on social media.
Evan Provisor from Wellfleet called the film “a piece of propaganda.” He said he had no objection to the library’s allowing Wellfleet for Palestine to show the film, however.
Eileen Elias from Barnstable disagreed, criticizing the library and town counsel for allowing the film to be screened. She called the event one-sided: “You can’t talk about one piece and say that’s the whole. You have to understand all the pieces.”
After the screening, the organizers opened the floor for discussion, which focused on the current conflict. Some said their objections to the film were about a lack of acknowledgement of Hamas’s role in the conflict. “The worst type of lie is a half-truth,” Mavrikos said. “Why do they keep rockets in schools?” she asked. “Why do they put rockets in hospitals?”
Several speakers who identified themselves as Jewish described their support for Palestine. Elaine Baskin from Wellfleet spoke of being raised as a Zionist but said, “I realize now that Zionism is a colonialist project.”
Catherine Hoffmann from South Wellfleet and Cambridge said, “We face a situation in which more than 50,000 people in an entire region have been annihilated.” She said that a friend whose son had died in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel told her, “Do not let anyone die on behalf of my son.”
Some speakers decried war in all its forms. A speaker who said he was from Wellfleet and described himself as a pacifist said, “Israel will never earn its security by obliterating its enemies … Hamas will never succeed in achieving a state by hurling more rockets.”
After the discussion ended, Wellfleet for Palestine member and event host Lor Hughes told the Independent she was heartened by the event. “We were afraid,” she said. “We didn’t know what to expect.” She said she was glad to hear diverse opinions.
Library Director Wertkin said that she was relieved that, as in other conversations about Israel and Palestine in town, “people were well-behaved, and it was civil.”
