THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION
Portland, Oregon | Film Feature
Documentary
The Palestine Exception takes the audience through the four seasons of the academic year 2023-2024, a year when the eruption of violence in Israel-Palestine set off events on US college campuses that dramatically challenged the stranglehold of pro-Israel and Zionist narratives in academia.
THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION
Portland, Oregon | Film Feature
Documentary
2 Campaigns | Oregon, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $26,850 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
208 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
The Palestine Exception takes the audience through the four seasons of the academic year 2023-2024, a year when the eruption of violence in Israel-Palestine set off events on US college campuses that dramatically challenged the stranglehold of pro-Israel and Zionist narratives in academia.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
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.
.jpg)
This film unfolds around attacks on academic freedom in the US and how calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the genocide 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 antisemitism 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.
"Colleges, and universities are supposed to be the bastions of academic freedom. Infringements on freedom of thought and expression paralyze progress of democratic societies, and sets them back to an authoritarian mode. This film sounds the alarm about the attacks on academic freedom when it relates to Palestine."
- Marlene Eid, Associate Producer
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.
Why are we the ones to make this film?
Directed by Jan Haaken and Jennifer Ruth, The Palestine Exception seeks to galvanize the movement and empower those threatened for speaking up, whether in protest or in their scholarly work. Between the two of them, Haaken and Ruth bring decades of experience in filmmaking and scholarship. Haaken, a professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker, brings her expertise in covering contested social issues and political controversy in the documentary space. Ruth, a professor of film studies at Portland State University has written extensively about academic freedom and higher education and teaches film analysis.
"There is both something old and something new in the assaults on campus protests since October 7th. In the production of this film, we wanted to show how this era of repression carries the echoes of McCarthyism and of earlier crackdowns on academic freedom and social justice organizing on campuses. But we also wanted to bring onto the screen the forces at work in this historical moment as activist academics break through institutional taboos around Israel and its treatment of Palestinians."
- Jan Haaken, Director and Producer
"Palestine is now ground zero for academic freedom and free speech in the US.
That's why we're making this film. We must be able to speak out about the repression here and the genocide there."
- Jennifer Ruth, Co-Director
Where we are now...
We are finishing production and beginning post-production but we need your help to see this through. The funds from this campaign are crucial for finishing production and paying for post-production services that will bring the project to a finished broadcast-quality feature film. We are moving at a rapid pace and plan to have a full cut of the documentary in fall 2024, coinciding with the resurgence of activism across the country.
If we reach our goal of $25,000 and are able to go beyond it, we have multiple stretch goals that will help our team and improve the impact of the film.
1) Raising another $5,000 would allow us to pay for extensive motion graphics and animation services to depict multiple powerful stories in the film.
2) An additional $2,000 would help with poster and graphic designs.
3) Anything beyond that will allow us to pay higher rates to our incredible, grassroots team.
We hope you will donate and share our film with your friends! To stay up to date, visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, and please follow @palestineexceptionfilm on Instagram and Facebook.
You can also help us by posting on your socials to drive donations! Feel free to use this message:
"Support academic freedom and free speech by donating to The Palestine Exception, a film about the fight against censorship on college campuses."
.jpg)
"We have to be active right now in speaking out and make ourselves visible in ways, and vulnerable in ways, precisely because there are other spaces and places where that work is being shut down, because we have to show that it will keep going. And it feels like there is such incredible urgency to do it. Which is why I'm so glad you guys are making this film."
- Jennifer Gaboury, Lecturer of Women and Gender Studies, Hunter College/CUNY
THANK YOU!
The entire team of The Palestine Exception thanks you for your support! Please share this Seed & Spark page wherever you can and follow us on Instagram @palestineexceptionfilm for more updates.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Final production costs, including crew and gear
Costs $6,000
For finishing principal photography
Share this update!
About This Team
Jan Haaken: Director/Producer
Jan Haaken is professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her documentary films focus on work carried out in contested social spaces and in sites of political controversy. Haaken has directed nine feature films, including most recently the 2-part NECESSITY Series: “Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance” and “Climate Justice & the Thin Green Line,” released in 2023, and “ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance,” completed in 2023. Haaken is author of Pillar of Salt: Gender, Memory, and the Perils of Looking Back, Hard Knocks: Domestic Violence and the Psychology of Storytelling and Psychiatry, Politics, and PTSD: Breaking Down and co-editor of Memory Matters: Understanding Recollections of Sexual Abuse.
Jennifer Ruth: Co-director
Jennifer Ruth is a professor of film studies at Portland State University. She writes extensively about academic freedom and higher education in outlets such as The New Republic, Truthout, Academe, Academe blog, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, LA Review of Books and Ms. She is the author of one book and the co-author, with Michael Bérubé, of two – The Humanities, Higher Education, and Academic Freedom: Three Necessary Arguments and It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom. She is the co-editor, with Valerie Johnson and Ellen Schrecker, of The Right to Learn; Resisting the Right-Wing War on Academic Freedom, forthcoming from Beacon Press.
Marlene Eid: Associate Producer
Marlene Eid, graduate of the Sorbonne university, in Paris, is a 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.
Kevin Foster: Associate Producer and Communications Coordinator
Kevin Foster is a journalist and multimedia professional. He focuses on marginalized voices and the intersection of politics and social justice. In his free time he enjoys surfing and rock climbing at crags around the PNW.
Sam Praus: Associate Producer
Samantha (Sam) is a queer, latine documentary filmmaker and researcher based in Portland, OR. Her most recent projects include the feature-length documentary Atomic Bamboozle (Producer), the series Necessity: Oil, Water & Climate Resistance (Co-director), Necessity: Climate Justice & the Thin Green Line (Co-director), and Our Bodies Our Doctors (Assistant Director).
Jeff Harshman: Editor
Jeff is a multidisciplinary filmmaker with an emphasis in post-production. When he’s not writing, planning, shooting or splicing he enjoys hiking in the abundance that is the PNW with his wife, two growing daughters and overly affectionate Boston Terrier, Zuri. He also loves good food and bad puns.
Matt Hathaway: Graphic Designer and Motion Artist
Matt is an experienced designer in print, web, and film. He enjoys the challenge to concept an idea into impactful graphics, animation and even set design establishing a brand to be remembered. Aside from his career you will either find Matt creating fine woodwork in his shop or deep in the wilderness where you can’t find him.
Ben Bach: Cinematographer
Born and raised in Vermont, Ben Bach grew up surrounded by art, with a painter mother and an amateur photographer father. He discovered his passion for 35mm film photography as a teenager. Since 2003, Ben has created a diverse body of work in fiction, nonfiction, commercial, and experimental projects. He enjoys collaborating with dedicated directors, producers, and crew to captivate audiences. Notable works include the feature ‘Why Dig When You Can Pluck,’ the award-winning music video ‘Fantasy In Terms of Liberation,’ the Telly Award-winning documentary ‘The Ghosts They Carry,’ and the dance film ‘How We Live.’ Ben also has numerous commercial credits and has mentored youth in film through nonprofits like BIZProgram and Outside the Frame. He resides in Portland, OR with his wife Cambria, son Forrest, and dog Vida.
Timothy Wildgoose: Cinematographer
Timothy Wildgoose is an Emmy award winning cinematographer focusing on vérité documentary and branded content for social good. His diverse body of work has screened everywhere from festivals around the world to the Super Bowl. Pulling from a deep well of empathy, he is drawn to intimate, character-driven stories that bridge divides and evoke emotion.
Morgan Robinson: Cinematographer
Morgan is an award winning Brooklyn-based filmmaker with fifteen years of professional experience. His passion is telling stories that build empathy and incite action towards a healthier and more just planet Earth. Morgan’s documentary work has aired on PBS, MTV and Viceland. In 2017, he founded the full-service production company Little Human Media. Morgan lives with his partner Katie, his son Theo as well as Frankie the Cat.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
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.
This film unfolds around attacks on academic freedom in the US and how calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the genocide 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 antisemitism 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.
"Colleges, and universities are supposed to be the bastions of academic freedom. Infringements on freedom of thought and expression paralyze progress of democratic societies, and sets them back to an authoritarian mode. This film sounds the alarm about the attacks on academic freedom when it relates to Palestine."
- Marlene Eid, Associate Producer
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.
Why are we the ones to make this film?
Directed by Jan Haaken and Jennifer Ruth, The Palestine Exception seeks to galvanize the movement and empower those threatened for speaking up, whether in protest or in their scholarly work. Between the two of them, Haaken and Ruth bring decades of experience in filmmaking and scholarship. Haaken, a professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker, brings her expertise in covering contested social issues and political controversy in the documentary space. Ruth, a professor of film studies at Portland State University has written extensively about academic freedom and higher education and teaches film analysis.
"There is both something old and something new in the assaults on campus protests since October 7th. In the production of this film, we wanted to show how this era of repression carries the echoes of McCarthyism and of earlier crackdowns on academic freedom and social justice organizing on campuses. But we also wanted to bring onto the screen the forces at work in this historical moment as activist academics break through institutional taboos around Israel and its treatment of Palestinians."
- Jan Haaken, Director and Producer
"Palestine is now ground zero for academic freedom and free speech in the US.
That's why we're making this film. We must be able to speak out about the repression here and the genocide there."
- Jennifer Ruth, Co-Director
Where we are now...
We are finishing production and beginning post-production but we need your help to see this through. The funds from this campaign are crucial for finishing production and paying for post-production services that will bring the project to a finished broadcast-quality feature film. We are moving at a rapid pace and plan to have a full cut of the documentary in fall 2024, coinciding with the resurgence of activism across the country.
If we reach our goal of $25,000 and are able to go beyond it, we have multiple stretch goals that will help our team and improve the impact of the film.
1) Raising another $5,000 would allow us to pay for extensive motion graphics and animation services to depict multiple powerful stories in the film.
2) An additional $2,000 would help with poster and graphic designs.
3) Anything beyond that will allow us to pay higher rates to our incredible, grassroots team.
We hope you will donate and share our film with your friends! To stay up to date, visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, and please follow @palestineexceptionfilm on Instagram and Facebook.
You can also help us by posting on your socials to drive donations! Feel free to use this message:
"Support academic freedom and free speech by donating to The Palestine Exception, a film about the fight against censorship on college campuses."
"We have to be active right now in speaking out and make ourselves visible in ways, and vulnerable in ways, precisely because there are other spaces and places where that work is being shut down, because we have to show that it will keep going. And it feels like there is such incredible urgency to do it. Which is why I'm so glad you guys are making this film."
- Jennifer Gaboury, Lecturer of Women and Gender Studies, Hunter College/CUNY
THANK YOU!
The entire team of The Palestine Exception thanks you for your support! Please share this Seed & Spark page wherever you can and follow us on Instagram @palestineexceptionfilm for more updates.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Final production costs, including crew and gear
Costs $6,000
For finishing principal photography
Share this update!
About This Team
Jan Haaken: Director/Producer
Jan Haaken is professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her documentary films focus on work carried out in contested social spaces and in sites of political controversy. Haaken has directed nine feature films, including most recently the 2-part NECESSITY Series: “Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance” and “Climate Justice & the Thin Green Line,” released in 2023, and “ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance,” completed in 2023. Haaken is author of Pillar of Salt: Gender, Memory, and the Perils of Looking Back, Hard Knocks: Domestic Violence and the Psychology of Storytelling and Psychiatry, Politics, and PTSD: Breaking Down and co-editor of Memory Matters: Understanding Recollections of Sexual Abuse.
Jennifer Ruth: Co-director
Jennifer Ruth is a professor of film studies at Portland State University. She writes extensively about academic freedom and higher education in outlets such as The New Republic, Truthout, Academe, Academe blog, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, LA Review of Books and Ms. She is the author of one book and the co-author, with Michael Bérubé, of two – The Humanities, Higher Education, and Academic Freedom: Three Necessary Arguments and It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom. She is the co-editor, with Valerie Johnson and Ellen Schrecker, of The Right to Learn; Resisting the Right-Wing War on Academic Freedom, forthcoming from Beacon Press.
Marlene Eid: Associate Producer
Marlene Eid, graduate of the Sorbonne university, in Paris, is a 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.
Kevin Foster: Associate Producer and Communications Coordinator
Kevin Foster is a journalist and multimedia professional. He focuses on marginalized voices and the intersection of politics and social justice. In his free time he enjoys surfing and rock climbing at crags around the PNW.
Sam Praus: Associate Producer
Samantha (Sam) is a queer, latine documentary filmmaker and researcher based in Portland, OR. Her most recent projects include the feature-length documentary Atomic Bamboozle (Producer), the series Necessity: Oil, Water & Climate Resistance (Co-director), Necessity: Climate Justice & the Thin Green Line (Co-director), and Our Bodies Our Doctors (Assistant Director).
Jeff Harshman: Editor
Jeff is a multidisciplinary filmmaker with an emphasis in post-production. When he’s not writing, planning, shooting or splicing he enjoys hiking in the abundance that is the PNW with his wife, two growing daughters and overly affectionate Boston Terrier, Zuri. He also loves good food and bad puns.
Matt Hathaway: Graphic Designer and Motion Artist
Matt is an experienced designer in print, web, and film. He enjoys the challenge to concept an idea into impactful graphics, animation and even set design establishing a brand to be remembered. Aside from his career you will either find Matt creating fine woodwork in his shop or deep in the wilderness where you can’t find him.
Ben Bach: Cinematographer
Born and raised in Vermont, Ben Bach grew up surrounded by art, with a painter mother and an amateur photographer father. He discovered his passion for 35mm film photography as a teenager. Since 2003, Ben has created a diverse body of work in fiction, nonfiction, commercial, and experimental projects. He enjoys collaborating with dedicated directors, producers, and crew to captivate audiences. Notable works include the feature ‘Why Dig When You Can Pluck,’ the award-winning music video ‘Fantasy In Terms of Liberation,’ the Telly Award-winning documentary ‘The Ghosts They Carry,’ and the dance film ‘How We Live.’ Ben also has numerous commercial credits and has mentored youth in film through nonprofits like BIZProgram and Outside the Frame. He resides in Portland, OR with his wife Cambria, son Forrest, and dog Vida.
Timothy Wildgoose: Cinematographer
Timothy Wildgoose is an Emmy award winning cinematographer focusing on vérité documentary and branded content for social good. His diverse body of work has screened everywhere from festivals around the world to the Super Bowl. Pulling from a deep well of empathy, he is drawn to intimate, character-driven stories that bridge divides and evoke emotion.
Morgan Robinson: Cinematographer
Morgan is an award winning Brooklyn-based filmmaker with fifteen years of professional experience. His passion is telling stories that build empathy and incite action towards a healthier and more just planet Earth. Morgan’s documentary work has aired on PBS, MTV and Viceland. In 2017, he founded the full-service production company Little Human Media. Morgan lives with his partner Katie, his son Theo as well as Frankie the Cat.