Benjamin J Doherty

Response to "Events Explore Middle East Controversy"

Benjamin J Doherty 20 February 2004



Rabbi David Rosenberg of the Newberger Hillel Center complained that a February 12 panel about the separation barrier Israel is building on occupied Palestinian land was unbalanced because “no campus group or outside group that is known to be supportive of Israel was extended an invitation to cosponsor” and that “no speaker has been chosen who will articulate why Israel might have chosen to have built a fence” But what does Rosenberg really mean when he calls for balance? None of the Israel-related events that the Rabbi’s organization has endorsed or promoted reveal any attempt to live up to the lofty standard he proposes. Benjamin J Doherty writes to the Chicago Maroon. 

"Gaza Strip" director to return student Academy Award to protest exclusion of Palestine

Ali Abunimah and Benjamin J Doherty 20 December 2002



James Longley, director of the acclaimed 2001 documentary “Gaza Strip” will return the prestigious Student Academy Award he received from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) unless the Academy explains why it has deemed Palestine ineligible to enter the Oscars competition. Read the story and the full interview with EI. 

EI letter about Palestine's Oscars' exclusion in <I>The Toronto Star</I>

Ali Abunimah and Benjamin J Doherty 14 December 2002

In a letter in
EI’s Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty expose the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences excuse for keeping Palestine out of the Oscars as nonsense. The Academy said that entering countries must be members of the United Nations. But, the record shows that the Oscars accept entries from regions not recognized by the UN all the time. 

Oscars' double standard turns Palestinian film into refugee

Benjamin J Doherty and Ali Abunimah 10 December 2002


Above: Elia Suleiman in the director’s chair.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences operates a double standard that may have kept Elia Suleiman’s award-winning feature film “Divine Intervention” out of the competition for the Oscars, EI has learned. The film, a dark comedy about a love affair between two people on opposite sides of an Israeli military checkpoint, won a prestigious jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the European Film Award. EI’s Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty investigate.