Nearly unknown just months ago, Joseph Dana and Mairav Zonszein have become crack activists in the field of digital anti-occupation work. Their videos have received hundreds of thousands of views, press coverage on every major Israel blog, and considerable adoration and hate mail. Wielding digital camcorders and a willingness to jump into the digital advocacy maelstrom, they weekly broadcast the ugly faces of Israel’s religious right. And what ugly faces they are (see video below).
Though not limiting themselves to the kind of sensationalism that garnered so much attention for their first collaboration with Max Blumenthal “Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem,” they seek to present commonplace opinions about settlements from Jerusalemites, recent American olim being moved to the settlements, and Tel Avivians on Obama.
Dana and Zonszein tirelessly bring us footage of the daily lives of Israeli left activists at work with Taayush and Combatants for Peace in the West Bank. Eschewing ideological statements and platforms, the organization concentrates on direct actions for which they get attacked attacked and arrested on camera several times. Their work is volumnous and increasing by the day, and we owe them a huge thanks for their work. 
Jewschool interviews Dana below the fold.

 

What was it that led you to become an activist?
I never referred to myself as an activist as I feel like it is a bit of a dirty, dismissive word. Don’t get me wrong, Ta’ayush is engaged in a form of activism. As an Israeli-American concerned with the conflict and firmly against the occupation I was drawn to Ta’ayush because of the inclusion of voices and viewpoints. I feel that most of the organizations and groups on the ground are deeply mired in rigid ideological viewpoints. Ta’ayush, while clearly against the occupation, does not make solid claims on ideology or long term goals. Instead we focus on direct action week after week. Furthermore, as an Israeli Jew, I think that it is important to work with fellow Israelis that want to break down barriers between Palestinians and Israelis, as opposed to simply fueling anti-Israeli rhetoric like other anti-occupation groups tend to do.
Who are the people who do Taayush?
Ta’ayush is very diverse and always changing. The core group, which is about 10 or 15 people features all different backgrounds and ages. There are three professors from the Hebrew University including one of Shoah history. A handful of students like myself and working people that are engaged in various professions including interior design. And of course Ezra Nawi (www.supportezra.net) who is a plumber. Most of us fit the stereotype of the intellectual Ashkenazi Jew leftist except for Ezra who is of Iraqi descent. One of the reasons that I am so attracted to Ta’ayush is the fact that we are all upstanding citizens with real jobs or careers that want to engage with the occupation. You know, we are not a leftist groups like the International Solidarity Movement that professinally deal with ‘the struggle’ all over the world. We are normal Israelis that want to make over voices heard about our disagreement with the actions of our government.
How did you choose video for your exposes?
Ta’ayush is always taking video camera to the West Bank with us. They are our major weapon in the fight to expose the realities on the ground. I have never worked with video editing (as I am sure you can see from my first films) but it seems natural to try and tell a story about our experiences in the West Bank using video – especially since so many people, including Israelis – have no idea what it looks like. I have also recently begun using Twitter (@ibnezra) as a form of live updates from the ground and communication with the world what is happening in the non violent resistance to the occupation.
What’s the most surprising element of your activism so far?
The reaction to the “Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem” was definitely the most surprising element of the blogging and journalist side of what I have been doing. [The video was removed from YouTube for offensive content, primarily drunk and young American Jews in Jerusalem calling Obama the n-word.] You have to keep in mind that Max and I were sitting in my apartment after a long day of interviewing people (I was helping him translate along with my girlfriend) and the idea popped into my head that we should go out and ask people what they thought of Obama. The rest is history.
The reactions to my descriptions of Ta’ayush and our work have been incredibility positive. It is important for me to remind the world that there are Israelis that will work, in solidarity, with Palestinians against the settlement expansion and the continued occupation.
What’s the state of the Israeli left today?
Israel has moved far to the right over the past ten years as Israeli society has largely accepted the status quo of occupation and the lack of a Palestinian partner for peace. “Left-wing” governments’ consistent role in the settlement project since 1967 and the recent war in Gaza has exposed the weakness of traditional left parties like Labor and Meretz. As a result of these trends, I feel like the Israeli left has died. In its place, a new left has begun to take shape. A left that is interested in direct action against the occupation and is highly critical of the Israeli army and security establishment.
It should be noted that parties like Hadash and Meretz have intervened on our behalf over the recent months and we have held meetings about our work with some of their MKs.
Who’s your favorite or most respected bloggers?
Antony Loewenstein is doing great work both in terms of keeping an active blog but also writing about the “blogging revolution” in general. I like Magnes Zionist and I read Israeli bloggers like Eyal Niv, and Noam Sheizaf on a regular basis. And of course, Mondoweiss, which in my opinion is the best progressive Jewish blog on the internet.
If there was a two-state agreement tomorrow, what would you work on next?
There are so many internal issues to deal with in Israel that I feel like I would have no problem finding something to pour my energy into as a citizen. The divide between the religious and the secular, the issue of minority rights (i.e. discrimination felt at the institutional level that Israeli Arabs experience everyday), or the growing issue of migrant workers. Part of the problem with the occupation is that it puts a lot of these internal issues on the back burner and little gets done in the foundational questions of Israeli identity.  We are in serious need of debate about the quality of our country and raison d’etre. These debates do not flourish because we are investing all of our resources and thought into the occupation and external threats. Perhaps it will always be this way. I am not sure.