On Oct. 5, the Albuquerque Metro Green Party hosted a free screening of the film “The Occupation of the American Mind,” which depicts the history of violence in Palestine and the United States’ role as an ally to Israel. The screening took place at the Special Collections Public Library downtown.
Michal Mudd, treasurer of the New Mexico Green Party, said that the inspiration for the event came out of frustration with a lack of political candidate attention on the issue of Israel and Palestine.
“To me, the outrage (is) that our major parties aren't paying attention to this,” Mudd said. “People are dying. Real people are dying.”
“The Occupation of the American Mind,” directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp, was produced in 2016 — years before the crisis reached its current degree. According to the documentary, the conflict is more about land than ideology. Since Israel’s establishment, it has annexed more of Palestine’s land — which is the root cause of the violence — according to the documentary.
The film focused largely on the background of the violence in Palestine and the U.S.’ role as one of Israel’s most powerful allies.
As current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanahyu himself said in 2001, “I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily.”
The film dives deep into the relationship between Israel and the American press and media. The documentary detailed the “hasbara” — a Hebrew word that roughly translates to “explain.”
Hasbara is a sect of Israel’s foreign policy that seeks to set the narrative about the conflicts it is involved in, especially to U.S. media, according to the documentary. It is a formal public relations strategy that was created at a conference after Israel bombed Lebanon in 1982, the documentary relays.
“The primary aim of the conference was to develop strategies to spin unpopular Israeli policies and to counter negative press coverage by shaping the media frame in advance,” narrator Roger Waters says in the film.
American author and journalist Max Blumenthal said in the film that hasbara is a method Israel uses to project its propaganda.
“Hasbara is one of the most sophisticated arms of its government,” Blumenthal said. “It’s a weapon of Israeli warfare.”
The notion of hasbara is so deeply entrenched in Israeli strategy and culture that it has even become a game show, according to the film. It depicts the Israeli equivalent of The Apprentice — a television show hosted by Donald Trump in which contestants competed to see who was the best salesman.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
In Israel, there is “The Ambassador,” where people compete to see who can best sell potentially unpopular Israeli policies to the international community.
“The problem is that when you sell lemonade, nobody hates lemonade,” one contestant said. “Nobody is going to say that your lemonade occupies territories or that your lemonade kills babies.”
Elizabeth Smith, an audience member and former student at the University of New Mexico, said that the documentary was what she anticipated, and that it was a refreshing and important break from mainstream U.S. media.
“You get enough news, but to really see the power that the media (has) and the science of persuasion behind it. It's very dangerous — what's happening to the minds of the people,” Smith said.
“The Occupation of the American Mind” is available on YouTube and on its website.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
