After the initial news that the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI) canceled their showing of Israeli film The Child Within Me, local Jewish groups issued an injunction against BMFI. Though BMFI was forced by Montgomery County Court to show the film as directed, the same Jewish groups decided to gather outside BMFI an hour before the film’s 7:00 start to show their support. The film is part of the Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia, which happens annually in early spring. Even five minutes before the protests’ scheduled 6pm start, people were already gathering around the Institute, turning the street corner blue and white with Israeli flags.
Right at 6:00 PM, speakers began to step up to the microphone, which had been set up in front of the entrance. The message of the day was that the local community was standing up to acts of antisemitism perpetrated by students of the surrounding colleges, calling the cancellation part of an “intrusion from college campuses and BDS attempting to intimidate us”. Protesters echoed the idea of an intrusion, calling BMFI’s decision to cancel “obscene”.
The majority of the crowd was made up of the local Jewish community, with the average age skewing upward. There was also a large police presence, with one policeman directing traffic while others stood and observed. In addition to American Jews, there were also a number of Israeli Jews in the crowd, there to, as one protester said, “stand for my people [and] my homeland”. This same protester went on to affirm that anti-Zionism is anti-semitism. She also urged people to reframe the situation, stating that if “this [were] any other group, no one would stand for it.” The same sentiment was echoed by other protesters, who were also vocal in their accusations of antisemitism. One called BMFI’s cancellation a “blatant double standard”, saying that “that standard is antisemitism”.
Once the protest was underway, a speaker got up to speak about the injunction, which was filed through the Deborah Project: a group offering legal protection to, according to its website, those “experiencing hatred towards Jews or the Jewish State in educational settings.” Soon after the announcement, the Deborah Project attorney took the mic, calling out “Yay, we have a win for once!” to uproarious applause from the crowd. She went on to say that “When people trample on the rights of Jews, we stand up and say no,” which was met with a second round of applause.
Interspersed throughout the speakers were chants led by various community members, including prayers such as Oseh Shalom and a repetition of Am Yisrael Chai. Later, there was also a singer who performed The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. Other chants happened in the middle of speeches, particularly repetitions of “We will not be canceled!”, in response to both the film’s cancellation itself and the wider concept of “cancel culture” of which the protesters believed the film’s cancellation was part.
Another chant accused pro-Palestinian activists of racism, saying “In Lower Merion we do not surrender to racism!”, which was immediately followed by chants of “No more hate!”. One protester went as far as to bring a sign emblazoned with the yellow Star of David used to identify Jews during the Holocaust set against a background of stripes reminiscent of Nazi concentration camp uniforms. Other signs included one saying “Don’t cancel our culture!” surrounded by hearts, while many carried around copies of an orange-and-black sign stating “Zero tolerance for antisemitism”. Some young Hasidic men even went around giving out matzos in light of Passover beginning soon.
While markedly smaller, there was a counter protest held across the street from the pro-Israel speakers. The leader of the counter-protest was a Native American woman, who stood in front of a sign proclaiming “Native Peoples for Palestine”. Dressed in regalia, the woman said she felt a connection to the Palestinian cause because her people had experienced similar things, saying that “these struggles happened to my people not long ago.” She then went on to say that “this happens in all countries”, encouraging all those who are able to take part in the Palestinian struggle as a collective. While she spoke, policemen on bicycles came and surrounded her protest, saying they wanted to make a boundary between her and the pro-Israeli protesters.
With a decidedly large pro-Israel turnout, what started as an annual film festival has clearly increased tensions in surrounding Main Line committee around Israel-Palestine. In light of the injunction, the BMFI has since issued an apology for their handling of the situation, saying that they initially canceled the showing “due to concern for public safety.” They went on to say that they “understand their actions have hurt and offended many” and that they “apologize for disappointing so many members of [the] community.”
