About the Film
OCTOBER H8TE begins in Israel on October 7th but is largely about the aftermath of a day that has become the modern Kristallnacht. With social media as its throughline, the film examines the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, online, and in the streets of America. We track the hijacking of narratives and dissemination of propaganda that has created a dystopian world in which Hamas is celebrated as freedom fighters rather than terrorists.
The film's dramatic college scenes start on October 8th and take us through the stunning December 5th congressional hearing and testimonies from the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn, who refused to say that calls for genocide on their campuses violated codes of conduct (three presidents ultimately resigned), to the siege at Columbia University, UCLA’s spring encampments, to the chaos of graduation.
"OCTOBER H8TE" delves into how we got to this moment, examining intersectionality and why social justice activists have aligned themselves in recent years with an aggressively anti-Zionist/ anti-West movement. We connect the dots on how funding, strategy and messaging linked to Hamas and terrorist groups have made their way to American campuses to support and organize student groups, including most prominently, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Experts and academics explain how “Hamas in America” is not a right-wing talking point, but a reality manifesting from Cambridge to Los Angeles.
We unpack how antisemitism has shape-shifted over millennia with its latest incarnation being anti-Zionism, an idea that has metastasized into an obsessive, almost irrational, hate of Israel, as the pariah state among nations. The documentary also looks at the silence, dismissal, and denial of the sexual assault and rape Hamas perpetrated on Israeli girls, women and men. From Hollywood to the #MeToo movement to the United Nations and NGOs, the film exposes the hypocrisy and double standards and the sense that Israel “had it coming."
Investigating social media, the film examines the tsunami of online antisemitism post-October 7th on mainstream platforms including TikTok with the trending hashtag #HitlerWasRight, and how social media is promoting divisive rhetoric focused on Gen Z. We go deeper into the dark web to expose even more graphic and violent posts specifically targeting Jewish women, revealing that the IP addresses are largely originating from overseas, especially Iran, Russia, and China.


Ultimately, the film answers the question of why the world should care. It's not just about the Jews or Israel, it's about democracy itself. One of the film’s principal characters, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a co-founder of Hamas, also known as the "Green Prince,” takes us through his story and his first-hand experience with Hamas and explains exactly what’s at stake.
When mobs are tearing down the American flag at Rockefeller Center, storming the White House gates, and blocking the 405 highway in Los Angeles, it’s no longer about the Jews or Israel. This is about Western civilization. It's about the vulnerability of truth, democracy, and a free society, which are all under attack.
There are high profile people in the film including:
Debra Messing, Michael Rapaport, Mosab Yousef (son of Hamas's co-founder), Sheryl Sandberg, Scott Galloway, US Rep. Ritchie Torres, US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Lorenzo Vidino, Douglas Murray, US Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Dan Senor, Noa Tishby, Bari Weiss, Einat Wilf, Asaf Romirowsky, Shai Davidai, Mandana Dayani, college students, and a survivor from Nir Oz.