In 2000, the American Jewish Committee’s Atlanta office founded a modest film festival to celebrate Jewish culture and build bridges between communities.
Twenty-six years later, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) is the largest Jewish film festival in the world – and one of the most visible Jewish cultural institutions in the American South.
AJC’s name is still on the masthead. Its legacy underwrites the festival’s credibility. And that credibility was just handed to someone devoted to delegitimizing the Jewish state.
AJFF retained a juror who organized anti-Israel encampments at Atlanta-area universities, served as acting president of his university’s Muslim Student Association, performed poetry for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and contributed to publications that celebrated the October 7 massacre.
On his own social media accounts, he accuses Israel of murdering Palestinians “just for sport,” calls Zionists “white supremacists” and Israel a “villainous state,” compares the Israel-Hamas war to the Holocaust, and chants “from the river to the sea” – accusing Israel of genocide while calling for the elimination of the Jewish state.
When this was brought to leadership, it kept him in place. Its public statement reduced his conduct to “certain publicly available social media activity.”
When a Jewish institution cannot bring itself to name antisemitism, it has lost its moral compass. Let us say plainly what should not need to be said: this was a moral failure. Not a process question. Not a judgment call. A moral failure. You do not give a platform and institutional credibility to someone whose public conduct delegitimizes the Jewish state and fuels the rhetoric that has made Jewish students on our own campuses unsafe. Not in a Jewish institution. Not ever. Not in the wake of October 7.
The Consulate-General of Israel understood this immediately. Consul-General Eitan Weiss issued a clear statement, named the conduct for what it was, and withdrew the consulate’s partnership and financial support. AJC Atlanta – AJFF’s own founder – confirmed that it “advised that the student not participate in the jury.” AJFF initially ignored both. Then the community spoke up. Donors called. Board members asked questions. Federation leadership engaged directly. And within days, AJFF reversed course.
AJFF standards on antisemitism, BDS, and anti-Zionist activity
In its apology, AJFF acknowledged “deficiencies, gaps, and adherence issues” in its policies, accepted responsibility, and committed to formalize standards on antisemitism, BDS, and anti-Zionist activity. AJFF affirmed that it is, “first and foremost, a Jewish institution” with a responsibility “to stand firmly against antisemitism and to affirm the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.”
That language matters. It would not exist without the community’s insistence on accountability. But process did not fail here. Judgment did. Jewish institutions cannot lend their platforms to those who publicly delegitimize the Jewish state. That is not a political position. It is an institutional obligation.
This is not about one juror at one film festival. This is about what happens when a Jewish community holds its institutions accountable on the most fundamental questions of our time: the legitimacy of the Jewish state and the safety of the Jewish people. Atlanta just demonstrated the answer. When the community speaks with moral clarity, institutions listen.
Anti-Zionism is not an intellectual exercise. Since October 7, it has manifested as violence, intimidation, and the systematic exclusion of Jews from public life. Before public pressure mounted, AJFF defended its decision to retain him as bridge building – creating space for “differing perspectives.” In practice, a Jewish institution chose to treat active participation in the delegitimization of Israel as simply another viewpoint. Bridge building requires good faith on both sides. It does not mean platforming someone who wants to burn the bridge down.
To Jewish Atlanta – and to Jewish communities everywhere: what happened here is a model, not an exception. When donors, board members, and engaged community members make their voices heard – privately and publicly – institutions respond. The consulate acted. The community demanded accountability. And AJFF, which initially dismissed those concerns, ultimately reversed course. That is how it is supposed to work. What is happening in Atlanta is not unique to Atlanta. Jewish institutions across this country are facing the same test. Public pressure can prompt change. Success is building institutions that don’t need it.
Our communities deserve institutions that reflect our values – if we hold them accountable.
The writers are co-founders of the Zalik Foundation, which has invested over $200 million in Jewish education, thriving Jewish communities, Israel, and families in need.