'Israelism' screening held at Northbrook Public Library months after free speech controversy

A documentary critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians was screened at the Northbrook Public Library this week, months after the library demanded organizers pay a security fee that the American Civil Liberties Union called unconstitutional.

The library held the screening of "Israelism" Thursday evening without incident, followed by a virtual question and answer session with co-director Erin Axelman, according to screening organizer Anna Tarkov of the Chicagoland Jewish Labor Bund.

Her group had canceled two previous screenings at the library in September and October, she said.

Before the first planned screening, the Chicago Jewish Alliance called on people to email and call the library to protest the event. The library responded by demanding the screening organizer pay $3,000 for security and insurance.

Free speech advocates called the cancellation a clear case of "heckler's veto," which occurs when a speaker is shut down due to the actions of a hostile crowd, the Sun-Times reported in December.

Organizers balked and began looking for another venue, Tarkov said. But the library dropped its security fee requirement after the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois sent a letter to library administration questioning the constitutionality of charging security fees in anticipation of protests.

Officers were dispatched at the library Thursday evening as potential crowd control "out of an abundance of caution," the village of Northbrook said in a statement.

Tarkov called the police presence "intense" and unnecessary.

Police blocked the street in front of the library and closed one of the library's two entrances, Tarkov said. About 30-35 people attended the screening, she said.

Axelman, in a social media post promoting the screening, characterized the event as being "un-canceled." He did not reply to a request for comment.

"After a mass outcry against this attempted cancellation, the Library is reversing course," the film's production team said in another social media post.

The library is reviewing the policy that led it to charge a security fee, according to Kate Hall, the library's executive director. In an email, Hall said the library's board discussed the issue at their January meeting, and the library is pursuing changes to the policy in May. "However, as always we remain committed to the First Amendment right of free speech," Hall said.

The Chicago Jewish Alliance told the Sun-Times in December it was open to attending a screening to discuss the film's ideas. But on Wednesday the group said in a social media post that it would not attend the screening, which fell on the Jewish holiday Purim.

The organization said it was not satisfied with the Q&A format and would have preferred a formal debate on the film. The group claimed that the film spreads "misinformation."

After the screening, the organization criticized how the debate was framed as a free speech issue.

"This isn’t a First Amendment issue — you can stream the film anywhere," the Chicago Jewish Alliance said in the statement. "This is about deliberately provoking Jewish communities with films that incite hostility. They refused to debate us and instead bragged about being on streaming platforms. If your film is so accessible, why the need to force it into Jewish spaces?"

The film's website says it's about "when two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns."

It won several awards at film festivals in 2023. But the film sparked renewed controversy in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

Tarkov said she knows several other organizers who have screened similar documentaries, including "Israelism," have not faced such intense public response.

"They haven't had any issues," she said.