The city of Takoma Park will screen a controversial film on Tuesday night despite pushback from Jewish community members and elected officials who accuse the movie of being anti-Semitic.

This comes after city officials postponed the screening of The Occupation of the American Mind last month after receiving “expressions of concern as well as support from a number of organizations and individuals,” according to a statement from Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart.

The film, narrated by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, describes itself as an exploration of “how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces […] to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel’s favor.”

However, some local Jewish groups say the movie reinforces harmful stereotypes that Jewish people are manipulating both the American media and government.

“This echoes centuries-old antisemitic tropes about the Jewish people controlling and manipulating media and the government, which ultimately led to the persecution and death of millions of Jews,” the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington said in a letter to Takoma Park officials on June 7, before the original scheduled screening.

Back in June, the city decided to respond to the original outcry about the documentary by rescheduling it a month later, and organizing a post-event panel with a professional facilitator to moderate the discussion.

Even with the addition of the panel, several Facebook groups were calling for community members to protest the screening, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Takoma Park Community Center.

But Ronald Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, says he does not encourage people to show up, even to protest. “We told people ‘stay away,'” Halber tells DCist. “We don’t believe that this is a positive event, and frankly we don’t want to contribute to the chaos by asking people to go outside and protest.”

Halber was invited to join the panel, but he says that he was given only 48 hours notice to respond. Regardless, he says he would have declined because he objects to the presence of several people on the panel, including Taher Herzallah, a member of the group American Muslims for Palestine. (Halber said that Herzallah has called for the bombing of Israel, a claim that Herzallah has vehemently denied.)

“I would never in a million years sit on that panel,” Halber says.

Halber says that he would have gladly participated in a debate about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but that he believes that the film is a “well-crafted piece of propaganda” against Israel. “I don’t care if they’re spending a thousand dollars or if they’re spending two cents to keep the electricity going in the room,” says Halber. “Not a single dollar should be spent of taxpayer money to show a film that is anti-Semitic.” He says that if people want to see the film, they could watch it in the privacy of their own homes.

Takoma Park spokesperson Donna Wright tells DCist that, while prospective panelists were asked to respond within 48 hours, it wasn’t a hard deadline.

“We extended the same courtesy to everyone,” says Wright. “If they had asked for an extension, we would have given them one.”

She says that the city would not be providing any additional security for the screening despite being aware of possible protests. “We’re going about our business as normal,” she says. “We’re hoping to all learn something from the community discussion and the panelists.”

Wright says the city decided to postpone the original screening, which was scheduled for June 13, so that it could better prepare for the event.

“We realized that we were seeing both pro and con remarks to the film,” Wright says. “We’re a very small staff so we weren’t really equipped to have a community conversation around the film.”

The screening will show the 45-minute version of the film, and the entire event will last about 2 hours, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wright says that Takoma Park City Manager Suzanne Ludlow will make a brief opening speech at the event. Panelists will also have an opportunity to give opening remarks, and there will an open mic session for the audience to weigh in as well. The event will be live-streamed and recorded for participants unable to attend in person. It is part of the “We Are Takoma” film series, which is run by the city council’s Arts and Humanities Commission.

“The City of Takoma Park is committed to creating spaces for people to discuss various films and the issues they raise,” said a statement posted on the city’s website on July 12. “We understand and have heard from many residents and non-residents about this particular film and the complexities of these issues and deeply held views. Our goal is to create a space for people to listen, critique, discuss, and learn from each other.”

Several local legislators have scolded Takoma Park officials for their decision to air the film.

Maryland State Senator Ben Kramer called the choice “appalling,” and said he felt “great disappointment and resentment” in a letter to Stewart, Takoma Park’s mayor, on Monday.

“You have chosen to disregard the Jewish community organizations that have tried to educate you with regard to the harm and ill-will that your government sanctioned viewing of this film will have on our Jewish residents and community as a whole,” Kramer wrote. If it “smells like anti-Semitism, looks like anti-Semitism, and walks and talks like anti-Semitism, I will call it out every time.”

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot chimed in as well, calling the film “garbage” and asking the mayor to cancel the event immediately. “I’m with fine freedom of speech and political expression,” said Franchot in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday. “I’m not fine with our local government using my tax dollars to peddle the same bigoted dog whistles that have been used to rationalize hatred, discrimination and violence against the Jewish people for generations.”

Last Friday, eight of the ten members on the Montgomery County Council signed a scathing letter that condemned the showing of the documentary.

“Rather than bringing the community together, Occupation of the American Mind threatens to tear people apart and goes against the very fabric of Takoma Park and Montgomery County as a welcoming place for all,” the letter reads. “Given the biased, hurtful, and offensive themes [in the documentary], we do not believe it is appropriate for a government to sponsor or endorse it.”

Theo Brown, who was hired to mediate the event, tells DCist that the city is trying to take a stand for open discussion about “one of the toughest problems on the planet.”

The issue of Israeli-Palestinian relations is “a question of great emotion and feeling for a lot of people,” says Brown, who has worked as a facilitator around the country since the 1970s. “We’re trying to create an opportunity where people can talk about this really hard problem.”

Takoma Park officials asked Brown to mediate the event about two weeks ago.

“How do you talk about this issue if you just cancel sessions when people want to talk about it?” he says. “Are we just going to shut something down whenever somebody doesn’t like the point of view being presented?”

He said that he is somewhat nervous, but confident that the evening will go smoothly. “I think the program will go well if there aren’t people who want to be disruptive,” Brown says.

Dominique Maria Bonessi contributed reporting.