New dates set for “Viral: Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations” documentary
The Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck will feature the new documentary, “Viral: Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations,” exclusively on its website from June 16 through June 19 in partnership with numerous local synagogues and Jewish centers.
The documentary, which originally aired on PBS on May 26 and on WLIW21 on May 27, examines anti-Semitism across Europe and the U.S. from the perspective of “victims, eyewitnesses and anti-Semites,” according to PBS. The Gold Coast Arts Center is showing the documentary as part of the “Community Focus on Anti-Semitism” initiative, which has brought together the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County along with several local synagogues to combat anti-Semitism on Long Island.
Caroline Sorokoff, associate director of the Gold Coast Arts Center, said the center is featuring the documentary to shed a light on the issue of anti-Semitism today and ensure people remain educated on it.
“It’s always important for people of all backgrounds and all faiths to be vigilant about educating themselves and being aware of anti-Semitism and other hate that is going on around the world,” Sorokoff said.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there was a 26 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in New York State between 2018 to 2019. On Long Island, officials took the step of creating an island-wide “Anti-Hate Task Force” in December in response to several instances of anti-Semitic vandalism in Nassau County.
The most prominent of those recent incidents occurred at the HMTC in November, where graffiti, including two swastikas, were spray-painted around the property. Steven Markowitz, chairman of the HMTC, said the documentary is a necessary watch because people need to “be made aware that this is going on.”
“This is not just some figment of people's imagination, this is a very real thing,” Markowitz said. “Anti-Semitism is real. There are victims, institutions as well as individuals, and unless it is understood and then met and resisted, it will only get worse.”
As part of the initiative, the arts center is also featuring an interview on its website with Andrew Goldberg, director of the documentary.
The documentary, which likens anti-Semitism to “a virus” that “mutates and evolves across cultures, borders and ideologies,” specifically focuses on its prevalence in the U.S., England, France and Hungary, according to PBS. In the U.S., the documentary highlights the shooting that occurred at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in late 2018, along with the prevalence of anti-Semitism on the far-right.
