‘The Palestine Exception’ Documents College Administrations Crackdowns on Pro-Palestine Activism on Campus

The most impactful part of the documentary film “The Palestine Exception” is seeing so many students with the courage and bravery to stand up for what they believe in, regardless of consequences enforced by their academic institutions. The film follows student protests and encampments on college campuses in 2024, when students called for their schools divestment from companies with business ties to Israel. To stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine who are enduring the tragedies of the Israel war in the Gaza strip, these students risked their own education.

At Emerson, a screening of the documentary was hosted by the journalism department on February 26, followed by a conversation and panel Q&A with Anna Feder, a consulting producer of the film. 

Feder said that hearing how students are personally impacted by what’s happening in Gaza and talking about these spaces that students created as liberated zones in response to the repression of their institutions was the most powerful part of the film. 

“At Emerson, there were no conversations on Palestine that were allowed to happen,” Feder said. “[The encampments] were spaces of liberation and learning because the main institutions were failing on that front.”

When real-life situations like the war in Gaza are presented in film in an effective and universally understood manner, it can resonate with people on a level that is both accessible and able to be strongly felt. By implementing various students’ voices, “The Palestine Exception” does just this. 

Hearing from the Palestinian students in the film who attended Portland State University—and how their school’s actions of suppressing and cracking down on them and their protests impacted their lives on campus—added a uniquely powerful dimension to the film. Seeing and hearing their pleas affected me on a level I didn’t know a film could.  

I was also particularly interested in observing the audience’s reactions and reflections on the film. 

Emerson student Laila Ahmed said that “seeing all of the footage again, compiled from when encampments were going on and also when they were being raided by police,” was the most striking part of the documentary. Ahmed, who participated at an encampment in her hometown, said the viewing experience took her “right back to that moment.” 

“I just remember, in the screening room [at Emerson], having a very visceral reaction,” Ahmed said. “Like, tearing up and being very angry, because seeing all of that play out again brought me right back to what those moments were. That feeling has stuck with me.”

Screenings like this one, especially since it was hosted by Emerson College’s journalism department, help demonstrate the impact the devastating responses from academic institutions have on their students. 

Ahmed described this film in three words, and I echo them entirely: “infuriating, necessary, and honest.”

Regions: Boston, Emerson College