Einat Wilf is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party and Independence, from 2010-2013. She is the author of the 2020 book, The War of Return, with co-author Adi Schwartz and founder of the Oz Party.

Yardena Schwartz is an award-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated producer, and author of Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine that Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Her reporting from four continents has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Review of Books, The Economist, TIME, National Geographic, and Foreign Policy. She was based in Israel from 2013-2023. Yardena previously worked at NBC News and MSNBC. She graduated with honors from Columbia Journalism School in 2011, received an Emmy nomination for her work at MSNBC in 2013, and the Religion News Association award for excellence in magazine reporting in 2016.

Mo Husseini is a Palestinian American writer, filmmaker, and strategic advisor from a Jerusalem family. A former commercial film director, his viral essay “50 Completely True Things” reached over 500,000 readers and established him as a distinctive Palestinian American voice. He serves on the National Steering Committee for Friends of Standing Together USA, the Palestinian-Jewish grassroots movement, and co-directed the documentary The Path Forward with Emmy-winning filmmaker Julie Cohen. He is currently co-authoring The Moral Floor with Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund, a framework for honest engagement across the deepest divides. His work is rooted in a simple conviction: that none of us has access to the big-T Truth, and the only way we get closer is by genuinely contending with perspectives that make us uncomfortable.

An honest examination of how Israeli and Palestinian national narratives developed, how historical turning points shaped lived realities on both sides, how language and media framing distort public understanding, and how misinformation fuels insecurity—for Jews and for Palestinians alike.

Tom Divon is an ethnographer of user-platform interactions focusing on creator culture platform affordances and user generated content. His research examines the socio-political subcultures of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram with a focus on intersecting domains. Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish content creators; platform governance and content moderation; and the role of play and trauma in activism within war zones. In addition, Divon’s work explores how artificial intelligence is mythologized, exploited, and weaponized against activists within digital cultures.

Richard Landes was trained as a medievalist, and he taught European history at Boston University for 25 years. Since 2015, he has been an independent scholar who also currently resides in Jerusalem. Specialties include millennial thinking, messianic/apocalyptic expectations, honor-shame culture, communications revolutions, the origins of the modern world. Since 2000 he has been working on the way Western media align their coverage with Jihadi war propaganda—an inexplicably self-destructive tendency.

Peaced Off! is back with a supersized episode that takes up what is being called “Pallywood,” the portmanteau of “Palestine” and “Hollywood.” Is it a derogatory term used by pro-Israel commentators to falsely accuse Palestinians of staging suffering and civilian casualties to manipulate the media? Or, is it a global symbol of Palestinian suffering born out of the current state of affairs in which Palestinians lack authentic mainstream media outlets? We spoke to Tom Divon, an ethnographer and media scholar at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Richard Landes, a former history professor at Boston University and now an independent historian living in Jerusalem, about the origins of the term and their respective takes on its significance. The resulting discussions were both eye opening and quite troubling, but gave us a lot to ponder and digest.

Guests
Laurel Leff: Professor; historian; author of Buried by The Times; Professor Emerita, Northeastern University

Sari Nusseibeh: Palestinian emeritus professor of philosophy and former president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem

Meet Professors Laurel Leff and Sari Nusseibeh as they explore the language of the current conflict in Israel and Palestine. This important conversation unpacks why words matter — examining not only definitions, but also the history, evolution, and shifting meaning of charged terms such as: Genocide, Zionist, Apartheid, Ceasefire.

Please share our podcast with a friend.

Orly Ravid is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Film Collaborative.

Abe Gurko is a producer, activist, and writer whose book, Won’t Be Silent — Don’t Stop ’Til It Matters, has also become his mantra. He promotes dialogue at the intersection of culture, politics, and storytelling. Visit Abe’s Substack.

Guests:
Brandon Kramer: Director of Holding Liat. Washington, DC-based filmmaker and co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures with his brother Lance.

Lance Kramer: Producer of Holding Liat. Washington, DC-based filmmaker and co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures with his brother Brandon.

Libby Lenkinski: founding President of Albi, a new fund, institute and lab that uses cultural vehicles to establish paradigm-shifting narratives by and about Palestinians and Jews.

Brandon, Lance and Libby discuss Holding Liat, which premiered in at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Berlinale Documentary Award for Best Documentary. It recently had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Festival.

Release Plans

In the U.S., Film Forum will open the film in New York where it’ll have an exclusive theatrical run, followed by a planned multi-city U.S. domestic release, date to be announced.

UK (BBC Storyville) - Theatrical release September 12, 2025.

Other territories:
France (L’Atelier D’Images)
Germany (Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. for theatrical and ZDF/3sat for broadcast)
Israel (theatrical run coordinated by Rotem Heyman followed by a television premiere on Yes)
Japan (United People)
Spain (Filmin)

Trailer for “Holding Liat”

Clip #1 (Tal & Yehuda)

Clip #2 (Going to DC)

Articles mentioned in the episode:

Liat Beinin Atzili’s guest essay, “Choosing Rebirth Over Revenge After My Release From Gaza” in the Opinion section of The New York Times.

Liat Beinin Atzili’s conversation with Hanna Rosin of The Atlantic.

Film Festivals

WORLD PREMIERE
Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), GERMANY
Feb. 13 - 23, 2025

ZagrebDox, CROATIA
Mar. 30 - Apr. 6, 2025

It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, BRAZIL
Apr. 3 - 13, 2025

Hong Kong International Film Festival, HONG KONG
Apr. 10 - 21, 2025

International Psychoanalytic University in Berlin, GERMANY
Apr. 15 - Jul. 6, 2025

Jewish Film Festival in Berlin & Brandenburg, GERMANY
May. 6 - 11, 2025

Millennium Docs Against Gravity Warsaw, POLAND
May. 9 - 18, 2025

Docaviv Film Festival, ISRAEL
May. 22 - 31, 2025

Die Linse Münster Film Series, GERMANY
May. 25, 2025

Berlin Center for Political Education in association with Hashomer Hatzair in Germany, GERMANY
Jun. 4, 2025

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Tribeca Festival, USA
Jun. 4 - 15, 2025

DC/DOX, USA
Jun. 12 - 15, 2025

Martha’s Vineyard Jewish Film Festival, USA
Jul. 13, 2025

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, USA
Jul. 17 - Aug. 3, 2025

Woods Hole Film Festival, USA
Jul. 26 - Aug. 2, 2025

Hashomer Hatzair World Movement, AUSTRIA
Jul. 28, 2025

MDOC - Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival Portugal, PORTUGAL
Jul. 28 - Aug. 3, 2025

Har Mishpacha: The Jewish Congregation on Steamboat Springs, USA
Aug. 2, 2025

Melbourne International Film Festival, AUSTRALIA
Aug. 7 - 24, 2025

The film has many festival engagements both in the U.S. and internationally scheduled for Fall 2025, but those lineups have yet to be announced. Please visit the film’s website for more information.

Guests
Laurel Leff: Professor; historian; author of Buried by The Times; Professor Emerita, Northeastern University

Sari Nusseibeh: Palestinian emeritus professor of philosophy and former president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem

Words Matter: A break down a few key terms with our panelists — not just definitions, but their etymology and how the words have shifted over time.

Genocide – Zionist – Ceasefire – Apartheid – Normalize

Books by Laurel Leff

Buried by The Times

Well Worth Saving

Books by Sari Nusseibeh

Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life

What Is a Palestinian State Worth?

Episode of Jubilee’s “Surrounded” mentioned in the podcast episode:

Trailer for “Wage Peace”

“Wage Peace” Teaser Trailer:

“Wage Peace” full film can be found here:

Guests:
Joseph Braude: Middle East expert, author, founder of the Center for Peace Communications

Ahed Al Hendi: Syrian activist, writer promoting secularism, human rights in the Middle East.

Moumen al-Natour: Palestinian politician, lawyer, human rights defender, “We Want to Live”

The team from The Center for Peace Communications joins us for a second episode, this time with Moumen, who lives in Gaza City, as they discuss the status of humanitarian aid and the desire to move forward in peace.

Read Moumen’s opinion piece in The Washington Post (March 30, 2025): “Why I and thousands of my fellow Gazans say Hamas’s tyranny must end.”

Read Moumen’s opinion piece in The Jewish Chronicle (July 1, 2025): “If a ceasefire leaves Hamas in power, they’ll kill Gazans like me.“

July 15, 2025

Guests:
Joseph Braude: Middle East expert, author, founder of the Center for Peace Communications

Ahed Al Hendi: Syrian activist, writer promoting secularism, human rights in the Middle East.

Joseph and Ahed discuss Whispers in Gaza, a groundbreaking video series produced by Joseph Braude, that reveals firsthand accounts from Palestinians living under Hamas rule.

Whispered in Gaza: “My Brother is Gone”

Muslim Clerics Issue Fatwa Banning Hamas

Watch this poignant illustration of Gazans who choose life over death: a Gazan mother responding to Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri’s promise that “the wombs of our women” will replace the fighters who have been killed, juxtaposing his chilling statements with her own experience of IVF treatment for the sake of having a child.

Guest
Samer Sinijlawi: Palestinian political strategist, heads the Jerusalem Development Fund, widely recognized for his efforts to promote dialogue and practical solutions for peace.

Abe Gurko moderates a discussion between Samer and Orly as they drill down on Samer’s November 2024 article in The Atlantic, entitled “My Hope for Palestine: There’s still a path to lasting peace. But we’ll need a new set of leaders.”

Episode Produced by: Abe Gurko -producer, activist, and writer Won’t Be Silent — Don’t Stop ’Til It Matters

Executive Producer: Orly Ravid

Guests:

Julie Cohen
Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker, and co-director of RBG, My Name Is Pauli Murray, Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, and Every Body.

Mo Husseini
Palestinian American peace activist and co-founder of The Path Forward.

Julie and Mo discuss “The Path Forward” (short film) about the Mo’s movement promoting dialogue, nonviolence, and mutual recognition between Israelis and Palestinians.

Episode Produced by: Abe Gurko -producer, activist, and writer Won’t Be Silent — Don’t Stop ’Til It Matters

Executive Producer: Orly Ravid

Watch the Trailer below:

The Path Forward will soon be released by Grasshopper Films.

Presented by The Film Collaborative, Peaced Off! explores Israeli and Palestinian stories through podcast episodes, films, and dialogue events that center empathy, truth, and shared humanity.

The mission is simple yet vital: to foster empathy, promote honest dialogue, move beyond polarization, and build common ground—one story at a time.

Produced by: Abe Gurko -producer, activist, and writer Won’t Be Silent — Don’t Stop ’Til It Matters

Executive Producer: Orly Ravid