Film Premiere at Yale University


At a moment when discourse about Israel on college campuses is polarized, simplified, or filtered through ideology, our film premiere of Indivisible invited a different approach:

  • Listen directly to those living and working within Israeli academia

  • Engage with complexity rather than slogans

  • Confront uncomfortable questions about academic freedom, bias, and intellectual integrity

Testimonials

"Barely 18 minutes long, this well edited short film documents the combined sorrow and resilience of Arab, Druze, and Jewish students and faculty in Israel as they lived through the effects of 10/7/23. With so many horrific stories to learn about, it is easy to miss the fact that Israeli higher education lost many members of its community that day. Appallingly, efforts to rekindle academic boycotts of Israeli universities were renewed before the academic community could finish burying its dead. If you care about justice and academic freedom, watch Indivisible."

Cary Nelson
Cary Nelson Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Emeritus at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Former President of AAUP | Author of "Mindless?" and "The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel"

"What a terrific and essential short film, about the academy both here and in Israel post October 7. Dropping truth bombs, refuting anti-Israel libels disseminated by campus anti-Israelists, revealing the resilience of Israeli academics, the film packs more into its 18 minutes than one would think possible — but also invites further discussion. Despite the bleakness of the Hamas massacre and wide-scale academic affirmation of it, the film also presents a hopeful vision — of peace, of coexistence — that could only be realized in Israel."

Andrew Pessin
Andrew Pessin Founding Director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Antizionism | Author of "Nevergreen," a novel of campus cancel culture

"Thanks to this film, we get to see what is really going on. Science requires collaboration, and that collaboration is exactly what Israelis have and work toward in their own institutions. Arabs, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze work together in Israel's hospitals. Academic boycotts thwart the goals of science; they harm individual professors but also those who stand to benefit from lifesaving technologies developed in Israel. This short film is an eye-opener. As a Yale grad, I am proud of the academics who took the trip and made this film possible."

L. Rachel Lerman
L. Rachel Lerman First Amendment Lawyer | Vice Chair and Director, Appeals & Critical Motions at The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law

"I was incredibly moved watching this video of the Yale faculty mission to Israel — to see how deeply the visit affected them and how much it meant to their Israeli colleagues. Having led a similar Penn faculty mission just weeks earlier, I know firsthand how transformative it is to show up for our colleagues — and how urgently more universities need to do the same."

Michael Kahana
Michael Kahana Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Psychology at University of Pennsylvania | Co-organizer of 2024 UPenn Israel faculty mission

"The authentic voices and ideas expressed in Indivisible are much needed in any discussion of the unfortunate predicament facing Israel's vibrant academic communities. When outside criticism of a country's political leadership devolves into hostile boycotts of its intellectual and scientific output, it adversely affects the lives of that country's citizens and those beyond. This clear-thinking film exemplifies the profound potential documentaries have in advancing important conversations."

Richard Chisolm
Richard Chisolm Documentary Filmmaker | Author of "Documentary Vision: Notes from Behind the Camera"

"The film showcases one of the most effective approaches to countering anti-Israel sentiment on campuses — exposure to the reality of Israel. The trip documented in the film highlights the extraordinary opportunities for U.S. and Israeli scholars to collaborate, to further scientific breakthroughs, and to promote mutual understanding."

Abby Thompson
Abby Thompson Distinguished Emerita Professor of Math at UC Davis

"I was incredibly impressed by the manner in which Israel has historically integrated Palestinian Israelis into the health care system at every level for both patients and providers."

Jeff Weinreb
Jeff Weinreb Mission Participant

"I am proud to collaborate with Israelis who are experts in my field, and I have done so my entire 20+-year career. I have seen direct messages documenting that Israelis have had an increasingly hard time getting publications, grants, and external promotion reviews – simply because they are Israeli. This is wrong. Indivisible confirms these observations and illustrates their real, personal impact."

Amber Gum
Amber Gum Professor of Behavioral Health Science and Practice, Fulbright Scholar to Israel, 2016 | Co-Chair, Heterodox Academy Campus Community, University of South Florida

"In this day and age when we hear so much negativity about academia, Indivisible presents a tender and hopeful portrait of coexistence through academic cooperation."

Rabbi Diana Fersko
Rabbi Diana Fersko Author of "We Need to Talk About Antisemitism"

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