Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Friday, February 3, at 7 p.m., the Savoy Theater will offer a one-time viewing of "Tantura" by Israeli director Alon Schwarz, sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace VT-NH.

The film reinvestigates the case of Israeli Teddy Katz, who submitted a graduate thesis in the 1990s that presented compelling evidence of a massacre of unarmed Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in the village of Tantura in late May, 1948. The alleged atrocity occurred shortly after Israel declared its existence as a state, and during a war that led ultimately to the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages by Jewish forces. At least 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly driven from their ancestral homeland or fled in terror for their lives.

Israel calls this period its "War of Independence"; Palestinians call it the "Nakba" – the "Catastrophe."

Whatever historical narrative you accept, "Tantura" makes clear that what happened in 1948 across Israel-Palestine and decades later to Teddy Katz still matters. Schwarz's film also raises disturbing questions with broad implications, including why the tragedy of Tantura, in his words, "has been obscured and silenced in Israeli society, almost obsessively, ever since."

Moreover, what does Tantura's fate reveal about the cataclysmic events of the Palestinian Nakba and their present-day consequences, and about personal and national memory in the construction and repression of the past.

After the film concludes, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and share perspectives about it with JVP members and others. The cost of the film is the Savoy's regular admission fee.

About Jewish Voice for Peace & JVP VT-NH
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) was started in 1996. It has 60 chapters dedicated to supporting and leading winnable campaigns to change U.S. foreign policy, to shift the public discourse on Israel-Palestine, and to create the political conditions that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a just and lasting peace consistent with international law in a post-Zionist world. JVP's national advocacy is also part of a broader struggle to end racism, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry, and all forms of oppression (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/faq/).

JVP VT-NH was formed in 2019 to contribute to these goals through community education, legislative action, and local political campaigns. For more information or to be on our mailing list, send an email to Kathy Shapiro (shapiro.kathy@gmail.com) or Liz Blum (elizblum@gmail.com).

Katharine Shapiro

Apr 28, 2024, 1:30 to 3 PM

Apr 29, 2024, 4 to 5 PM

May 4, 2024, 12:30 to 3:30 PM