Tammy Kremer
Zochrot
Tel Aviv, Israel/Palestine
Tel Aviv is a beautiful, walkable, vibrant city both in the midst of the occupation and world away. People here talk about the city as a bubble. As I swim in the ocean here or eat at a cafe I know that very close by people are living under military rule. I know that I am on land that was conquered systematically for the benefit of one people (my people) over another people (the Palestinians).
I expected that I would spend my summer angry, but the activists I am working with here have shown me that I don’t need to be angry all the time to do meaningful work. In fact, the work itself is an antidote to the anger and depressiveness of what we are working to transform. When I visited Ramallah and Hebron, I met Palestinians who spoke about smiling through the occupation while actively resisting.
In addition to my work on the Nakba and Return film festival, which forms the foundation for my fellowship, I have had the great fortune of taking on another project with a documentary film production company, Heymann Brothers Films. I am writing grant applications for an upcoming documentary about Dov Khenin, a Parliament (Knesset) member in the only joint Arab–Jewish party, Khadash. Part of my work for the grant has been to watch hours of footage of Dov Khenin at protests, in the Knesset, at special events, and during interviews. This project has given me the opportunity to learn about the workings of Knesset and the host of issues that Dov Khenin works on. Dov Khenin has been another source of inspiration for making activism sustainable. He spends his days in the midst of the people and communities most impacted by injustice, and he sees his role as one of reminding people of the power they do have and of the importance of not losing hope.
