Showcase featured a short, very one-sided film about “Alrowwad Arts Org”, led by virulent anti-Israel director, who seems to chastise those condemning the October 7th attack in Israel on civilians. CM Jawando glosses over this fact.
Councilmember Will Jawando informed his constituents (all 1.1 million of us, as he is an “At Large” Councilmember) via his newsletter that he recently attended a “short films” Season Showcase for Action Youth Media in downtown Silver Spring at the AFI theater. This event occurred November 18th.
Action Youth Media is the re-branded “Gandhi Brigade Youth Media” and it is a frequent recipient of taxpayer (and future taxpayer) largesse. We’ve covered some of their grants in the past and it is important to remember that this was Council President Evan Glass’s organization prior to him winning an election (again, At-Large) and joining the Montgomery County Council. This org then got tons of taxpayer largesse via grants, used primarily for a build-out of new studios and classrooms in their Silver Spring space. It appears to be more about promoting certain viewpoints and left-leaning “causes” then about genuine topic or history exploration.
Anyway, CM Jawando described one of the films as “a story about… helping children in conflict areas explore the arts”. See below, which is screen capped directly from the Councilmember’s e-newsletter to constituents:
But, as usual with CM Jawando, this is just not accurate. The film in question that was screened at this “Season Showcase”, and praised by the Councilmember, is called Finding Hope: Paving Way To Creativity and it is currently available for anyone to watch on AYM’s Youtube channel. The film is most assuredly not about “helping children in conflict areas explore the arts”, it is specifically about one org, Alrowwad, in one area, the West Bank, Palestine.
It opens with very slanted “history” and “official narrative” about Palestinian refugees and it heavily features the words of the director of this org (Alrowwad), a man named Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour. Of course, the words “colonization” and “occupation” are brought up by Dr. Abusrour as well as “struggle” and “resistance”.
Dr. Abusrour, again the featured voice of this film, in turn praised/glossed over by CM Jawando, may not be seeking “armed conflict” or direct resistance with the state of Israel and its citizens through his organization, but he is definitely 100% unapologetic for the actions of Hamas militants in Israel on October 7th, 2023.
In a lengthy screed / blog post for the radical left, Howie Klein-backed blog called “Down with Tyranny!”, Dr. Abusrour is featured (see screen cap below):
The post is lengthy and very meandering but here is how it ends (direct from https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/do-you-condemn-palestinian-terrorism-a-guest-post-by-dr-abdelfattah-abusrour):
I shall praise all oppressors and occupiers, and dictators
I should praise all rapists to continue their rape
I should praise all liars and manipulators for their distortion of facts and truth
I am really sorry I have failed all these failures…. Really sorry that I still couldn’t figure out how to co-exist with these double standards… how to co-exist with occupation, oppression, dehumanization and be happy about it?
Do you have special training? I am happy to join…. Or perhaps you can join me and wear my skin and show me how can I be the good pet that you can domesticate?
Or should I just say, no thank you… I pass
I can never accept your dictations and blackmailing
I can never except for the oppressed to get used of oppression and co-exist with oppressors as long as oppression continues
So, he is pretty explicit about not condemning Hamas and what took place in October. He throws in a lot of “whataboutism” for good measure.
Again, people are free to express ideas, however vile or ignorant – that is the beauty of America. But why do MoCo taxpayers have to continue to prop up orgs like “Action Youth Media” via our money / labor? Can’t they fundraise privately for their short films?
And why does Councilmember Jawando feel the need to outright spin and obfuscate the truth about what he attends and what films he views and praises to Moco residents?
More to come.
Related posts:
Re-Branded as “Action Youth Media”, Gandhi Brigade Youth Media (a MoCo Taxpayer Grantee) Still Appears to be Promoting Only Certain Types of “Activism” Through Art
Investigating the Taxpayer Support of CM Evan Glass’s Former Employer, Gandhi Brigade Youth Medi
CM Mink’s Recent Political Donations Show a Clear History of Supporting Radical Anti-Israel Activists and Fringe Provocateur Types