Torn: The Israel-Palestine War on NYC Streets
Last year, I moved away from X, and what I was seeing about the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack within Israel was a big part of that. The rhetoric on both sides unsettled me, and it felt like people were losing their sense of empathy towards one another. What has happened in Gaza and the West Bank since that day continues to be horrific, with the reports of starvation in recent weeks being heartbreaking to hear about. Are the people horrified by what’s happening to the Palestinians due to Israel’s attacks- largely courtesy of US support- blind to the pain of those hoping beyond hope that any of the remaining hostages are returned? This is one of the things that stuck out most about Nimrod Shapira’s “Torn,” and it makes it an essential documentary to watch.
In a social media and algorithm-driven digital world, we’ve seen a marked increase in binary thinking. Right and wrong is no longer on a spectrum of rational thinking but the only way to see the world. Yes, there is absolute right and absolute wrong, and in an era of constant misinformation and malicious disinformation and propaganda that is important to hold on to, but social media has amplified a sense of tribalism of thought that should concern everyone. Whether it’s about pop culture or celebrity worship or political thought or global catastrophes, if you aren’t all in on one side you’re on the wrong side. That is what leads to the sort of extremism that results in events like October 7, and the response by Israeli hardliners more concerned with inflicting as much damage as possible to Palestinians than a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. In the middle are the Palestinians in harm’s way, the hostages taken by Hamas, and the people who want neither to come to harm. Though the film begins through the perspective of Jewish people in pain about October 7, “Torn” is more about our fractured inability to have reasonable discussions about difficult subjects.
The first people we hear from are people whose family and loved ones were directly impacted on October 7, and two street artists who helped design the Kidnapped Posters of hostages that fuel the narrative the film is telling. And while all of the voices in this film are important to hear, there are two that stand out as we see the Kidnapped posters put up, and then pro-Palestinian activist tear them down. One is the writer, Nina Mogilnik, who was first inspired to act by seeing a poster of an autistic child who was taken hostage. While her words as a Jewish woman, and mother of an autistic child, are powerful in how the posters affect her, she also offers a perspective on the collective pain in the conflict that truly does not leave anyone behind. The other is Aaron Terr, who is the Director of Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression; he gives clarity to the political complexities of this conflict, which is deeply important for our understanding of it.
For the most part, this is a one-sided documentary, which is to say that we don’t really hear from the pro-Palestinian protesters whom have torn down these posters. In particular, we do not hear why they feel the need to tear them down. When confronted with their actions on camera, they often ignore the person asking the question, or simply have responses that boil down to “Fuck Israel.” But wanting the hostages remembered is not tantamount to supporting the Israeli government; it means that- in a war where innocent lives are being taken on a daily basis, the ones whose kidnappings at the start of this recent round of fighting are being forgotten. To ignore that is to ignore the pain of others who share your pain, and might have more in common with you than you realize if you just listen to their voices, and see their hearts.
