![\"Pro-Palestinian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/E06437BB0B38DBF1B1B27A1589080BC0.jpg\")
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CHICAGO<\/strong> – As tensions between Israel and Iran begin to cool, controversy is heating up in Chicago over a planned screening of a documentary some say is antisemitic.<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n The Chicago Park District\u2019s “Movies in the Park” series is typically reserved for animated or family-friendly films. But a local pro-Palestinian group, Pali Action Chicago, promoted a screening of “Israelism” \u2014 a documentary critical of the Israeli government \u2014 Tuesday night at Mary Bartelme Park.<\/p>\n The group does not have a permit for the event, officials confirmed.<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n Jewish advocacy groups say the film spreads antisemitic propaganda and could incite unrest.<\/p>\n “No one’s censoring their free speech. However, what they’re doing is they’re saying, \u2018It\u2019s not enough that we have access to the free speech. We are going into communities and we are going to shove our propaganda down people\u2019s throats’ and these are real issues and real communities that are really harming Jewish people, as well as their allies,” said Daniel Schwartz, with the Chicago Jewish Alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pali Action Chicago advertised the screening alongside groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Code Pink.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) said the alderman\u2019s office has been in contact with the Chicago Park District and confirmed the screening was not sanctioned.<\/p>\n “Ald. Conway’s office is in communication with the Chicago Park District, who have told the group organizers that they cannot hold an event in the park without a permit. This is not a sanctioned event,” the statement reads.<\/p>\n Organizers and filmmakers say “Israelism” follows Israeli citizens who become increasingly critical of their government\u2019s actions during the current war. Some conservative Jewish groups have labeled the film dangerous and inappropriate.<\/p>\n “To say that something is inappropriate, or uncomfortable, as a literal genocide is unfolding that the U.S. is directly complicit in is laughable and shows that again, they do not care for oppressed people and it’s, it’s a true shame to have other Jewish people try to silence Jewish voices that they find to be inconvenient,” said Erin Axelman, with Tikkun Olam Productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n Due to forecasted thunderstorms Tuesday, organizers said the film will now be streamed online instead of shown at the park.<\/p>\n Chicago<\/a>Chicago Park District<\/a>News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO – As tensions between Israel and Iran begin to cool, controversy is heating up in Chicago over…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,12633,5404,5386,1818,50,12632,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-11897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-park-district","10":"tag-cook-county","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-illinois","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-organization","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114740763622653388","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}