In “Human Rights & Pop Culture Club,” Fund staff recommend the books, articles, films, and podcasts that help them understand the world and inform their work. This week, Rona Peligal, vice president for development and communications, shares what she’s been reading, watching, and listening to recently:
Like most people, I’ve been upset and outraged by Hamas’s attack on civilians in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the disproportionate Israeli response in Gaza, which, as of this writing, has taken the lives of some 25,000 people, while rendering many thousands of other Palestinians without homes, water, food, or health care. The conflagration has only reinforced my decision to abandon the Zionism in which I was ensconced as a young person and to reject the idea of a Jewish state that marginalizes and dehumanizes others.
To understand more about how Judaism came to be equated with Zionism in the United States, I highly recommend the film Israelism, which encapsulates my upbringing and my rebellion. It’s very smart and beautifully done.
For a more historical perspective, I cannot recommend more highly Dan Denvir’s podcast The Dig, where he interviews Shaul Magid, a rabbi and professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth. The conversation takes place in two, two-hour parts. It is worth the investment of time, principally to understand better the complexity and inherent contradictions of Israel’s creation. Magid brings together so many different fascinating political, economic, social, cultural, and religious strands dating back to the nineteenth century; I was riveted.
The aforementioned items reinforce the continuous dehumanization of Palestinians and others in ways that, for me, are reminiscent of the treatment of Black people in the United States. Ava DuVernay’s latest film, Origin, takes a deep dive into global and historical forms of hierarchy and repression. It is a beautiful and compelling story based on Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book Caste. I loved it and encourage everyone to see it.
Israelism (2023)
Origin (2023)
In theaters now.
All of this is pretty heavy stuff. To escape, I read fiction. Three books I’ve read recently have buoyed me with wondrous language, vibrant characters, and a terrific sense of place. They are The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, The Fraud by Zadie Smith, and Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023)
James McBride
The Fraud (2023)
Zadie Smith
The Covenant of Water (2023)
Abraham Verghese
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