Really interesting piece. The response of Sundance to activist pressure reminds me very much of Sierra Club’s initial response to activists recently demanding it stop trips to Israel. They panicked in the face of activist bullying, and cancelled the trips. A concerted outcry against Sierra Club for caving to the activists’ thuggery led Sierra Club to issue an apology for its thoughtless actions. I know nothing about how Sundance works, but it would be nice to think that they, too, might rethink what their panicked reaction was really about, and how they might be better prepared to rationally meet such attacks in the future. Maybe Jihad Rehab can still be given a chance at Sundance. If not, maybe the American public will get to see it and benefit from it anyway. One thing that seems consistent is the people who go to the trouble to get a film like Jihad Rehab booted from Sundance or Sierra Club trips to Israel cancelled spend little to no time condemning, bullying, harassing or otherwise trying to stop violent jihadists from carrying on their crusade. Violent jihadists are as hateful as white supremacists but, these days, seem more prolific in their spread of hate-based violence. Shutting this film out of Sundance was simply a means of shutting down discussion of the subject, so as not to interrupt or challenge the narrative that jihadists are mere victims, and nothing more.
Jilani can always be counted on to grapple with complexity; i.e., no easy answers. Thank you, Zaid!
Really interesting piece. The response of Sundance to activist pressure reminds me very much of Sierra Club’s initial response to activists recently demanding it stop trips to Israel. They panicked in the face of activist bullying, and cancelled the trips. A concerted outcry against Sierra Club for caving to the activists’ thuggery led Sierra Club to issue an apology for its thoughtless actions. I know nothing about how Sundance works, but it would be nice to think that they, too, might rethink what their panicked reaction was really about, and how they might be better prepared to rationally meet such attacks in the future. Maybe Jihad Rehab can still be given a chance at Sundance. If not, maybe the American public will get to see it and benefit from it anyway. One thing that seems consistent is the people who go to the trouble to get a film like Jihad Rehab booted from Sundance or Sierra Club trips to Israel cancelled spend little to no time condemning, bullying, harassing or otherwise trying to stop violent jihadists from carrying on their crusade. Violent jihadists are as hateful as white supremacists but, these days, seem more prolific in their spread of hate-based violence. Shutting this film out of Sundance was simply a means of shutting down discussion of the subject, so as not to interrupt or challenge the narrative that jihadists are mere victims, and nothing more.