Patricia Kullberg hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes the following segments:
Growing up Jewish and Zionist: On March 18th, a documentary created by a team of Jewish filmmakers titled "ISRAELISM" screens at the Clinton Street Theater. The Portland chapter of Veterans for Peace, Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland DSA and Jewish-Palestinian Alliance of Oregon are sponsoring the screening event. ISRAELISM tells the story of how two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel discover the brutality of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and go through a process of confronting the repressed side of the Israeli narrative. Documentary filmmaker Jan Haaken talks with Caryn Shebowich, a Jewish social worker and activist in the queer anti-Zionist community in Portland, about key themes in the film, from the role of Birthright visits in Israeli propaganda to untangling anti-semitism and anti-zionism. The Clinton Street Theater screening of the movie is sold out. You can view the film on line at https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/israelism/.
Barbie and Barbie: Barbie the doll is a social hieroglyph and a corporate brand; Barbie the movie is a commercial juggernaut of liberal-individualist girlbossing. Is the movie funny, inspiring, infuriating? Yes; yes, it is. Frann Michel shares comments.
Pinkwashing: Laurie Mercier speaks with Nishant Shahani about "Pinkwashing," in the context of Israel/Palestine. Shahani is Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Department of English at Washington State University Vancouver. He is author of the books Pink Revolutions: Globalization, Hindutva, and Queer Triangles in Contemporary India (2021) and Queer Retrosexualities: The Politics of Reparative Return (2013). He is co-editor of AIDS and the Distribution of Crises (2020) and has also published essays in journals such as GLQ, Modern Fiction Studies, Journal of Visual Culture, QED: A Journal of LGBTQ Worldmaking, and Postcolonial Studies.
- KBOO