‘Extremism versus democracy’: October H8TE documents rise of antisemitism after Hamas terror attack

After Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, protests around the world celebrated the terrorist attack that killed more than 1,000 people. Witnessing a rise in hateful rhetoric sparked something in Wendy Sachs, an American documentarian and journalist. Within a few weeks, she had begun working on a film documenting the anti-Israel protests sweeping across the United States.

October H8TE, which examines the rise of antisemitism, has its Canadian premiere in Toronto on Friday. The film has already “crossed the $1 million box office” threshold, Sachs said. She’s heard from venues across Europe and Australia expressing interest in airing October H8TE and shared that a recent Mexico City screening was sold out. Sachs spoke to National Post about her motivation for making the film and its central message ahead of the Toronto event. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

It started on Oct. 7, 2023, when I was visiting my daughter in college — she goes to the University of Wisconsin — and we saw everything that was happening in southern Israel. We saw the rocket attacks. We saw the images coming out of Israel and of Gaza, of young people and babies and grandparents and children and people from the Nova Festival being kidnapped and being murdered, the live streaming of their murders on their own Facebook pages and on Telegram. And, obviously, those images were horrific.

But really, for me, it was the reaction to October 7. It was what we saw in the streets in the following days, on Oct. 8 in Times Square, with Hamas being celebrated as freedom fighters rather than as terrorists. And then everything unfolding on college campuses. And, frankly, what I was seeing around the world, what I was seeing in London, what I was seeing in Canada, what I was seeing in Europe, which was the hostility meeting the silence.

Where was the world speaking out? The silence of human rights organizations, the silence of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, the silence in America of Capitol Hill. And, to me, it felt like the world had lost its mind.

By the end of October, I was working on the film. I saw what was happening and in this sort of global response, not just in the States, but around the world. And I was watching what was happening in Canada, too. On a personal level, it was gutting, as an American Jew. I felt it at a cellular level. That generational trauma (was) unleashed.

But I also saw the hypocrisy, the double standards. Where was everyone? When the girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, there was an entire global movement to return our girls. When the girls in Israel were kidnapped and young women were kidnapped and grandmothers were kidnapped, where was everyone? There was no such movement. There was silence. There was either silence or there was hate. And before Israel had even responded, there were protests against Israel. So, I saw this sort of fanatical, obsessive hate of Israel as a pariah state blinded everyone to the massacre that had just happened.

That was a tagline to my original treatment of the film — on October 7, Hamas attacked Israel, and on October 8, American Jews woke up. And I think that’s exactly the sentiment. I think that North American Jews have woken up. We’ve seen what’s been happening for the past decade or so. Particularly, I would argue, I think America is behind the U.K., behind Canada, when it comes to just the explosiveness of antisemitism and how out there it is.

It’s also now okay, I would argue, to be more openly antisemitic, where it was, in polite society before, you were supposed to keep it on the down low. And we’ve seen through politicians in the U.K., from the Labour Party, from years ago. It’s happening on both the left and the right. And I think that’s actually really important to acknowledge. We see, and particularly in the States, I can say that it’s definitely happening. There was a rise in antisemitism after 2016 and Charlottesville, and you’re seeing it here in Canada.

The central theme is that this is not about the Jews, and it’s not about the state of Israel. This is about jihadism and extremism versus democracy in the West. That’s the theme: it starts with the Jews; it doesn’t end with the Jews. It truly is about Islamic jihadism and extremism. That’s the real takeaway, and that’s why the world should care.

I would say, we’re not litigating the war. The film is not political. This is not about land issues or settlements or the Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) government. This is about the modern form of antisemitism, which has morphed into anti-Zionism. It’s this fanatical, obsessive hate of Israel that has blinded people to the massacre of Israelis.

This is not a political film. You can hold two truths. This is not about denying the Palestinians a right to their own state; that’s not what this film is about. But what it is about is delegitimizing the right of the State of Israel to exist.

As someone who has filmed more than 150 hours of footage, and was at a lot of these protests and the mobs at Columbia University, these people were chanting, not for peace and not for two states, but for one state. They were very clear. And if you listen to the messaging, this is not about we want peace and we want to live side by side. This is: we want it all. This is from the river to the sea, and this is not about peace.

Absolutely. I feel really strongly that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. There has definitely been a lot of questions among people, even in the Jewish community, to call it out. But I think it’s very clear, more than ever, that is exactly what we’re talking about and that is how it should be defined.

Again, this does not mean that you can’t protest the Israeli government or have issues with their governmental policies. Of course you can, and you should be able to criticize any government, any elected official. That is not what this is about. This is not about criticism of the government of Israel; it is about delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist. That is antisemitism. When Jews are the only people who don’t have a right to self-determination, that is antisemitism. Not criticizing the Bibi government, that is perfectly fine and often exactly what people should be doing.

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