IFPNP international Dialogue by Dr. Marlene Eid

 

IFPNP international Dialogue 

The Psychology of War and  Peace in Palestine 

 by 

Dr. Marlene Eid

January 24, 2025 4.00 pm IST@ Google meet 

The Palestine Exception tells the story of the fierce battle for academic freedom as campus administrators crack down on protesters

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Post Production
Director/Producer: Jan Haaken
Co-Director: Jennifer Ruth
Producer: Marlene Eid
Associate Producer and Communications Coordinator: Kevin Foster
Editor: Jeff Harshman

Website: palestineexceptionfilm.com
Facebook: palestineexceptionfilm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmTPcYAYuBs&t=156s

Logline

As Israel’s war on Gaza intensified, students and faculty across the US mobilized for justice in Palestine. Often mocked and accused of antisemitism, they defied escalating waves of repression and censorship. The film aims to embolden those who refuse to be silenced by this new era of McCarthyism

Synopsis

The production of The Palestine Exception is itself a response to this crucial moment in history. Across the world we’ve seen the largest anti-war protests since the 1970s with people of all backgrounds calling for an end to Israeli occupation and Palestinian suffering. In the US, these calls have been met with widespread and often violent repression. Professors speaking up about Palestine have been under threat of losing their jobs for decades, but it came into full view after October 7th.

University presidents were grilled by right-wing members of Congress and pressured to resign. As Israel killed tens of thousands of Gazans with US-made bombs, destroying schools, homes, hospitals, and mosques in the process, the US Congress and university administrators accused activists of anti-semitism and called for increased policing of protests. Set against this repression are rulings by the UN International Court of Justice on Israel’s campaign of genocide and its history of ethnic cleansing and other war crimes.

For large portions of the American population, especially younger generations, the injustices in Palestine were undeniable and the genocide in Gaza intolerable. In this politically charged context, the Palestine exception to academic freedom and free speech takes center stage, at once more vulnerable and more harshly enforced than ever before.

This new era of anti-war activism revisits tactics and memories of earlier periods of campus politics, from protests against the Vietnam War, the Black Power, gay rights and feminist movements, to the boycott campaign against South Africa and apartheid. Drawing on scholars Ellen Schrecker and Saree Makdisi for history and context, the film features four activist academics (Ted Khoury, Sophie Smith, Jennifer Gaboury, Premilla Nadasen) and how the personal became political in this critical year of the movement.

 https://www.filmindependent.org/sponsored-projects/the-palestine-exception/

About the Producer

Marlene Eid

Marlene Eid, graduate of the Sorbonne university in Paris, is on the psychology faculty at Portland Community College (PCC). Marlene is a Palestinian American born and reared in East Jerusalem, where she grew up under Israeli military occupation. She is a lifelong advocate of Palestinian human rights, and a defender of social justice issues. Previous to PCC, Marlene worked at Portland State University (PSU), where in addition to teaching psychology and women studies, she worked as the coordinator of Arab Studies at the Middle East Studies Center.

In 1990, Marlene traveled to the Gaza Strip and was one of the founding members of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. While establishing the first mental health program in the Gaza city, she developed a play therapy program for the children, training programs for the working team, and mental health training for UNRWA clinic doctors. Marlene worked with international agencies such as World Health Organization, United Nations, International governmental and non governmental agencies, and local Institutions in Gaza.

In 2015 Marlene founded, and was the first president of PCRF (Palestine Children’s Relief Fund) chapter in Portland, Oregon. The program provided medical care and prosthetic limbs to Palestinian children with difficult cases where care could not be provided otherwise.