The Most Successful Propaganda You've Never Heard Of

In this 16-minute video suitable for middle and high school students, Unpacked confronts the propaganda, falsehoods, and deliberate distortions that have reshaped Zionism into a tool for demonizing Israel and Jews, rather than understanding it in its historical context as a movement for Jewish self-determination.

Students gain a deeper understanding of Zionism and how and why the term has been turned into a slur. They investigate how the Soviets repackaged traditional antisemitism as anti-Zionism and then exported that propaganda throughout the Arab world and beyond.

The video also examines the very real dangers of anti-Zionism across the political spectrum, explaining how it manifests differently on the left and right: on the left, by equating Zionism with white supremacy, and on the right, by portraying it as a threat to white supremacy.

As anti-Zionist beliefs gain wider acceptance, Jews are increasingly being excluded from public life. Even more deeply alarming, vandalism, violence, and mass-casualty attacks targeting Jews have become normalized.

Ultimately, students come away with a clearer understanding of the line between legitimate political criticism and propaganda-driven demonization, and why distortions of Zionism have serious consequences for Jewish safety, identity, and participation in public life.