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New Documentary on History of Zionism to Counter ‘Erasure of the Jewish People’
Pro-Israel rally in Times Square, New York City, US, Oct. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Oriental rugs, Bauhaus furniture, and Mediterranean sweets adorned a stage featuring one college student and a former member of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset. The suavely-set docuseries preview was the latest attempt by a group of Zionist organizations, most prominently the Tikvah Fund, to create greater public knowledge about the history of Zionism.
On Dec. 12, the University of California, Los Angeles’ Hillel Center held a preview of the new documentary expanding on the history of Zionism. Featuring former Israeli politician Einat Wilf and her 23-year-old former Georgetown University student, Zoe Tara Zeigherman, the five-part documentary series will be featured on over 30 college campuses across the country before a wider release next month.
The documentary breaks down the history of the Jewish state’s establishment and its aftermath into five parts: emancipation and political Zionism; socialism and labor Zionism; religious Zionism and anti-Zionism; Islamic and Arab anti-Zionism amidst the creation of Israel; and Soviet, anti-imperialism, and left-wing anti-Zionism.
The series is unique in the thoroughness of its attempt to blend historical narratives with contemporary political analysis. “The series ends in our contemporary moment and a discussion of left-wing anti-Zionism,” Zeigherman told The Algemeiner. However, “it discusses this movement through its roots in Soviet anti-Zionism.”
Zeigherman, a London-born graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, added that the film seeks to highlight the similarities between contemporary anti-Zionism and the “anti-Zionist propaganda machine that was so heavily invested in the Soviet Union, especially after the Six-Day War [of 1967].”
In the episodes, which range in length from 30-40 minutes, Wilf examines the history of Zionism in a way that the directors sought to make digestible for the average college student.
After serving in the Knesset as a representative of the Labor and the Independence parties from 2010 to 2013, Wilf has since pivoted to activism and academia, authoring several books and, most recently, teaching courses at Georgetown.
The impetus for the documentary, Zeigherman told The Algemeiner, was the miseducation of her peers. During the tumultuous summer of 2020, Zeigherman recalled that her peers viewed Jews as “actually white and oppressors in a kind of oppressed-oppressor narrative used as a comprehensive worldview.” The result, she observed, was “the erasure of Jewish history and an erasure of Jewish people.”
Her alienation amongst progressive voices ultimately led Zeigherman to seek out the voices of progressive Zionist pundits online. Among them was Wilf, who by sheer coincidence was set to teach at Georgetown the following semester. The former Israeli politician’s course was “transformative” for Zeigherman “as a student, for me, as a Jew,” she explained. “I was finally able to root my understanding of myself in knowledge, in history.”
This month’s screening took place as a preview ahead of a wider audience release set to occur in Jan. 2024.
According to the documentary’s product manager, Yael Zeldin, its broader release will be intended “to become an integral part of the curriculum for Israel education.”
Zeldin told The Algemeiner that agreements are in place with Hillel chapters “to be viewed across the country,” but that she hopes it will also be featured in “synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and anywhere else where its screening can be of educational value.”
The series is produced by Levana Studios, and a trailer for the documentary can be found on its website.
The public release will include a series of YouTube videos that break up the interviews into soundbites, with the intention of such a format resonating with a younger generation that often watches short videos on social media.
The post New Documentary on History of Zionism to Counter ‘Erasure of the Jewish People’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.