Israelis, Jewish Americans protest screening of NAZA film in New York City

Several dozen Israelis and Jewish Americans gathered outside Lincoln Center in New York City on Sunday evening to protest the screening of NAZA, a controversial film about the Israel-Hamas war that they say promotes false claims about the IDF and the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

The protesters, organized by the Israeli-American Council (IAC), staged the counter-protest as the film was being screened at Lincoln Center, one of New York City’s most prestigious arts venues, as part of the annual New York Film Festival.

The film, directed by Israeli citizens Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, with co-directors Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal, purports to be a "documentary" about the IDF’s deliberate targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The protest included small trucks with LED screens showing footage from the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as part of a documentary entitled October 7: Bearing Witness to the Massacre.

The screens also displayed documented evidence that protesters said refutes claims made in the NAZA film, along with counterclaims questioning the sources used to make its accusations and the film’s methodology and production.

"Films have editors. History does not," the IAC stated. "Our presence here is the message: We will not allow October 7 to be erased from the story."

Nova festival survivors Rom El-Hai and Shelev Biton, as well as Younes Al-Garnaoui, an Israeli-Bedouin who saved dozens of people on Oct. 7, were among the protesters. They wore T-shirts printed for the occasion and carried signs.

The Consul General of Israel in New York, Ofir Akunis, was also present as part of the Consulate’s cooperation with the Foreign Ministry:

"We will not let lies and blood libels prevail. The filmmakers are shameful individuals. We will not stand by and pass over their incitement against our heroic soldiers and the State of Israel in silence!"

The IDF spokesperson’s office has also responded to claims made in the film, calling them “A complete lie," and adding that "The IDF has never planned, approved, or carried out a strike in Gaza where 500 civilians were expected to be killed, or anything close to that number."

"Furthermore, no credible claim has been raised throughout the war indicating that an IDF strike caused anything close to that number of fatalities. The filmmakers could not verify this claim; there is no real supporting evidence, yet they published it anyway," they continued.

The controversy surrounding the screening comes as Jewish Americans in the New York area have reported concerns about rising antisemitism.

Miriam S. is a Jewish widow who lives in northern New Jersey, where she retired after teaching public school in New York City. She recently told All Israel News about her experiences and what she described as an alarming rise in antisemitism.

“I grew up in Brooklyn but it’s been years since I felt comfortable going back there,” she said. “Every time I go to Manhattan these days I get dirty looks.”

She recalled one recent experience while shopping for a wedding present. “A few months ago I wanted to get a wedding present for someone, so I went into a store that I’ve shopped in all my life. I’ve spent thousands of dollars there since the first time I went there back in the late 1970s.”

But during that visit, she said, she was treated differently. “But this time, the clerks wouldn’t even talk to me. I tried asking them for help but they pretended I was invisible and they couldn’t see or hear me, so I finally just left without buying anything and I guess I’ll never go back there.”

Miriam also described receiving an unexpected call from a former student.

“A former student of mine, who was in my classroom over 20 years ago, called me the other day out of the clear blue sky just to curse me out and tell me she was ashamed to have been my student.”

She said she believes the hostility she has experienced predates Zohran Mamdani’s election but has worsened since then.

“This kind of nonsense was going on before Mamdani came in but since he was elected it’s gotten worse,” she said. “I feel like an exile in my own country.”