On Wednesday night in the Wasserman Cinematheque, there was a screening of the recently-released film The J Street Challenge, which criticized the organization J Street, a "pro-Israel, pro-peace" organization as identified on their website, for being too liberal and trying to persuade the United States government to intervene in Israel. The viewing was followed by a question-and-answer session with the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, Noah Pollak, who was interviewed in the film. The Emergency Committee for Israel is "committed to mounting an active defense of the U.S.-Israel relationship," according to its website.

Zevvy Goldish '15 brought this film to Brandeis for a screening because he thought it was important for people to see. He wrote in an email to the Justice that he reached out to the producers of the film, and they funded the screening on campus.

"I think people need to know what kind of organizations they are getting involved in, and a film like this really exposes what the organization is about," Goldish said in an interview with the Justice, when asked about his reasons for wanting to screen the film. The event was not sponsored by any group on campus.

The film opens by questioning whether J Street is truly a pro-Israel group, and throughout tries to undermine that message by interviewing experts and students and by showing clips of J Street's leaders making contradictory statements. After the film had finished, the producer, co-writer and co-director, Ilya Feoktistov, briefly addressed the audience of about 30 people.

"All we want is an open debate and an open dialogue," he said. However, no members from J Street were present to propose and offer their views in the discussion.

Then Pollak held an open question-and-answer section. "There's just something not so honest or forthright about what they are up to," he said. "The real purpose [of J Street] is going after the right, and having some means of a moral high ground while they are going after the right."

Pollak was critical of a two-state solution in his discussion and later said in an interview with the Justice that "[t]his is a problem for which there is no solution right now."

J Street U Brandeis was not in attendance at the event, but Catie Stewart '16 wrote in an email to the Justice that J Street's regularly scheduled meeting was at the same time as the screening. "Instead of attending the screening of what is clearly a smear film in a space that would not be conducive to productive dialogue, we decided to move forward with our regularly scheduled meeting," she wrote.

When asked why he believed it was important for people to view the film, Goldish said that people need to learn more about the purposes of their organizations and that this film offered an unheard point of view on a hot-button subject.

"There's an unspoken division; we're afraid to talk to each other... I'm hoping that this film will encourage people to stand up for what they believe and show that we do stand up for what we believe, we're here to hold each other responsible," Goldish later stated in an interview with the Justice.

Stewart said she also believes it is important to have a dialogue between those with different viewpoints but wrote that "screening a film that is openly hostile towards J Street does not promote 'open dialogue' with J Street U students."