Dispatch from Dearborn...And join us Tuesday evening for a film screening

Drop Site will host a live screening of "The Night Won't End," an extraordinarily powerful new documentary

Please join Jeremy Scahill, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, and Laila Al-Arian at 8 p.m. ET, on Tuesday, September 17th for a very special live screening of the Al Jazeera English documentary “The Night Won’t End.” This powerful film tells the stories of three Palestinian families in Gaza fighting to survive a genocidal Israeli war facilitated by U.S. government weapons and support. “The Night Won’t End” is one of the most vital pieces of journalism produced about the 11-month war against the Palestinians of Gaza, and I highly recommend you make the time to watch it. Laila is the film’s executive producer and Sharif, who is now on the Drop Site team, was its correspondent.

For those of you who have been following this war – if it can even be called that – for the last 11 months, it may seem like too much to take in a film telling the story from the ground. Yet it somehow manages to be a profoundly important document, one that I think is very much worth your time. 

RSVP for a link to join. Following the film, Jeremy will host a roundtable discussion and Q&A. 

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The live screening and event is open to all Drop Site News subscribers, but we will only be taking questions for the Q&A from paid subscribers. If you want to submit questions for me, Sharif, or Laila, make sure to support our journalism and upgrade today. You can also make a one-time or recurring tax deductible contribution to support our work.

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I’m writing you from Dearborn, where the film was screened last night at the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee conference. I was here for a panel on genocide and journalism with the Laila, the film’s executive producer, and Said Arikat, the legendary reporter you’ve probably seen pestering the State Department at briefings over the past two decades. 

Much of the talk at the conference was about whether the community would wind up supporting Kamala Harris in the general election. The consensus seemed to be that the vast majority will not do so. Green Party nominee Jill Stein, ahead of Harris in some polls of Muslim voters here, even spoke on opening night and was given quite a warm welcome. 

Two other major topics of conversation: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, on Thursday charged 7 student protesters with felonies related to campus encampments. As one elected official at the conference told me, Nessel ran on a promise to hold former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder responsible for the Flint water crisis and related cover-up, but never managed to do so, yet found a way to hit student protesters with felonies. 

The other involved an election for University of Michigan’s board of regents. Two of the board’s eight regents are elected per cycle, and student protesters organized behind Huwaida Arraf, a civil rights attorney. Some 600 or more students packed the Michigan Democratic Convention in August to back their candidate, but instead of embracing the willingness of the students to operate inside the Democratic tent, they were treated even worse than the uncommitted delegates at the Democratic National Convention. The announcement of the results was delayed until the very end of the convention, when an official quietly declared Arraf had lost and quickly adjourned the convention, stunning the sea of hundreds of yellow Huwaida-shirted students. The party has not released the complicated formula that weighted the votes. The final tally showed some 200 more people voted than had been signed up to vote ahead of time and Arraf is now suing over the opacity.

The collective sense at the convention is that the Democratic Party is not just not doing anything to win their votes, but is actively hostile toward the Arab and Muslim community in Michigan. 

If you’re free Tuesday evening, I think you’ll find the film a meaningful use of your time. 

Sharif Abdel Kouddous is an independent journalist who has received a George Polk Award for his investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an Emmy award for his coverage of the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban, and an Izzy Award for his coverage of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Sharif is also a producer of the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest). Sharif has recently joined the team as a contributor to Drop Site News.

Laila Al-Arian is an award-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker, and an executive producer of Fault Lines, a documentary program on Al Jazeera English. She has been honored with two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, 15 Emmy nominations, a Peabody Award, a Robert F. Kennedy Award in journalism and a National Headliner Award.

Looking forward to seeing you all Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET to watch and reflect on this important work.

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