FILM

COURTESY THE JERUSALEM FUND “Outside In” shows the vein-like patterns left after the snow has melted. “Such art brings the wonders of the outside world—where they are created—in,” says artist Sam Husseini.

jects, including a car radiator, wood and metal sheets.

“My art is of this world yet has an ethereal quality,” Husseini writes in his Artist Statement. “It rejects ‘materialism’ in the usual sense of the word—showing the beauty of the negative space of an object itself regarded as valueless. But it is completely materialistic in that it is about truly seeing the ‘everyday’ physical world before us that we often ignore or even deride. Many only experience freezing crystal structures as an annoyance on a car windshield they diligently scrape off. Such are rarely regarded as wonders to behold.” Husseini’s artwork shows us those everyday wonders. —Delinda C. Hanley FILM Former AIPAC Insiders Condemn Lobby in New Israeli Documentary A new Israeli documentary film condemns the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as a far-right-wing lobby that is more representative of President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and apocalyptic Christian fundamentalists than of broader Jewish public opinion. Following a premier in Tel Aviv, “The Kings of Capitol Hill,” directed by Mor Loushy, was screened in mid-November 2020 at the DOC NYC documentary film festival.

Drawing on interviews with disenchanted former AIPAC leaders, the film condemns the lobby for its intolerance of dissenting views as well as its overweening influence over American Middle East policy. The AIPAC critics—notably former AIPAC executive director Thomas Dine, former executive assistant M.J. Rosenberg and former board member Ada Horwich—are liberals who decry AIPAC’s shift to the right, a process that culminated in the presidency of Donald Trump.

In the film, the critics argue that AIPAC dominates Congress and has convinced much of the public that it is representative of American Jewish and financier Sheldon Adelson.

“AIPAC uses the resources of wealthy people in the American Jewish community to enforce a kind of political orthodoxy on Congress, on the White House and on the media,” Rosenberg explains in the film. “Its purpose is to make sure that no one in a position of power deviates from the Israel line.” AIPAC’s longtime CEO Howard Kohr, Rosenberg adds, is a “pure rightwinger,” a Republican who operates in lockstep with Netanyahu.

Dine, Rosenberg, and Kenneth Weissman, another disenchanted former AIPAC insider, charge that the shift to the right succeeded in undermining the prospects of a two-state solution of the Palestine issue and drove the persistent demonization of Arabs and Muslims. “Our [political] system is so easily manipulated,” Weissman de-

clares in the film, adding that uncritical support for Israel “has become entrenched in American political discourse. AIPAC succeeded brilliantly. I don’t think it’s right.”

Also featured in the documentary is Ben

opinion, when in reality it is a right-wing organization working closely with Netanyahu and extremists such as casino mogul Rhodes, who served as deputy national

DESIREE NAVARRO/GETTY IMAGES “The Kings of Capitol Hill” director Mor Loushy speaks about one of her previous films, “The Oslo Diaries,” in New York City, on Sep. 6, 2018.