Film screening in Acton shows rift over what constitutes antisemitism
It is sad that Acton has become a town where there is intolerance for any truth about Israel that depicts it in less than a glorious light.
I am responding to the letter by Mahreen Hoda and Ece Turnator, co-founders of Acton-Carlisle for Informed Dialogue. They sponsored the Academy Award-winning documentary “No Other Land” at the Fowler Library, as well as weeks before at the Gleason Library in Carlisle. What a difference in the towns’ receptions.
I attended in Carlisle, and there was no controversy over showing a film which depicts the truth about settler violence in Israel. However, here in Acton, there was a complaint that the film was antisemitic. Even the DEI Commission is working toward including anything critical of Israel as antisemitic. How can this be? Are we to dismiss everything a country does as acceptable?
The organizers were asked to meet with Acton police to discuss security and concerns about showing the film. A police detail was not required by the department, but, wanting to be responsive to the concerns of the library staff, Mahreen and Ece decided to have a detail at their own cost.
It is sad that Acton has become a town where there is intolerance for any truth about Israel that depicts it in less than a glorious light. As the organizers conclude in their letter, “We should all be concerned when our free speech rights are so threatened.” I couldn’t say it any better than that.
Nancy Rose Dow
Bedford Court
