Ashley Perry on the Film about the IDF and Free Speech

Transcript

MEF speech-to-text, word-timed; edited only to withhold private names and to correct misheard public names, in square brackets. Timecodes are source time; each opens the source at that second.

Perry relays a viewer's question, then answers.

1. 18:01"I think those two filmmakers should be punished.
2. 18:04How about you?" Um, I think, I, I come down a little bit with the professional
3. 18:08level. I think they should be ignored as much as possible because, uh, it's not, Um,
4. 18:15if we make, If, if we punish them, whatever that means, basically, uh, what you're,
5. 18:21you're, you're, you're making them into martyrs, and this will- Make Israel look like
6. 18:25a North Korea or Iran trying to stifle dissent.
7. 18:27Of course, it's a libel, it's a disgraceful libel.
8. 18:30It's, it's, They haven't been able to prove anything.
9. 18:34In fact, one of the, um, soldiers who was, uh, filmed i-in the documentary apparently
10. 18:41came forward and said that he, his testimony was manipulated, and they were offered
11. 18:45money depending how, uh, uh, how, how serious the allegations were.
12. 18:50But at the end of the day, I think we have to look at the bigger picture, and we have
13. 18:53to say that if we don't want to make our reputation even worse, it is at a bad level,
14. 18:59then I think trying to punish what is essentially free speech.
15. 19:04It's a libel, it's disgraceful, it's disgusting, but it is free speech.
16. 19:08And if we go down that road, um, I think w-it will rebound worse for us.

Views expressed are the speaker's own.