So stoked to share the official trailer for the Avatar Aang movie, now releasing JULY 25th on Paramount+!!
Iām so proud of our crew and honored to have been a part of this.. for everyone who has waited to watch the official release in order to support the artists and animators, I just want to say thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart - it truly means so much!!
It wasnāt long after Hamas carried out its attack on Israel in Oct 7, 2023, that Taryn Thomas found herself swept up in the chorus of pro-Palestine activists mobilising against the Jewish state.
Even before Israelās ground invasion of Gaza following the Oct 7 massacre,āI was scrolling through social media, and I only saw support for Palestine,ā she recalls. āPeople I know, whether it was activists or people I look up to, were already posting their thoughts.ā
Then aged 19 and studying biomedical science at the elite Stanford University in northern California, Thomas, an African American, was first introduced to the anti-Israel movement at Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, where Palestinian flags were flown by some activists. āI never really understood why, but we were told that in order for us to be free, Palestine has to be free,ā she says.
She subsequently helped lead large protests against Israel and, within two weeks of Oct 7 2023, had joined an encampment of activists on campus protesting against Israelās invasion of Gaza. Like many others, she donned a keffiyeh, the headscarf worn to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians. āI really loved it because of the sense of belonging and the sense of purpose,ā she says of the encampment. āIt was like an instant community.ā
Besides fellow students, Thomas was encouraged by āfaculty members like history professorsā who āvalidated the movementā. āIt seemed like everyone was a lot more educated than me and very certain and sure of themselves that this is a genocide,ā says Thomas, who is now 21. āThe only safe position was the more radical one in the encampment.ā
āI was confused by what our mission wasā
Thomas grew up in Riverside County, one of the few Republican counties in the otherwise āvery liberal Californiaā. That, together with racist abuse at school, influenced her political outlook. āI thought going further to the Left would be the solution to the extremism I was seeing from the Right,ā she says.
Huge demonstrations took place at universities across the US in the months that followed Oct 7, with protesters confronting the educational institutions with their demands ā including to divest from Israel and cut ties with counterpart Israeli institutions.
While the movement was largely peaceful, some demonstrations turned violent and led to clashes with police. āOne of our protests got out of hand, and that kind of made me take a step back,ā says Thomas.
This was in June 2024, when several militant students broke into the office of Stanfordās president, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. āThey spray-painted disgusting things, such as āPigs taste best when deadā, āDeath to Americaā, āDeath to Israelā, and āKill copsā,ā Thomas recalls.
āI was confused by what our mission was. At what point did the pro-Palestine movement turn into this anti-Israel, anti-America movement? We completely lost sight of the victims we were claiming to be supporting and fighting for.ā
Yet those behind the vandalism ādoubled downā, she says, and justified their actions, āeven though Jewish students said they felt unsafeā. She explains: āThey felt like they couldnāt go to their classes, they were getting harassed and doxxed [having personal information published online] and things like that. Essentially, we completely lost our minds.ā
A drastic change of heart
Then, in October 2024, Thomas was one of many students who received an open invitation to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Los Angeles. Recently opened in London, the exhibition aims to recreate the festival site where 413 people were murdered by Hamas, and many more were injured or taken hostage.
Nova exhibition
āInitially, I laughed, thinking, āWhatās this propaganda?āā Something piqued her interest, however, so she decided to go. āIād heard about the festival and was curious, but Iād only really heard the reasoning, āWell, why would you have a festival next to a contested border? Essentially, they were asking for it.ā
āI was hoping it was going to reaffirm my position, that I would find Zionist lies and whatever. I went with a very closed mind.ā Three hours later, Thomas emerged feeling āso lostā.
āI experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance ā what I was seeing versus what Iād been told. It was like I arrived a year too late to a funeral. I had so many questions, but I really had no one I could talk to about this. All of my friends were from the encampment. Iād never met an Israeli or talked to them about their experiences ā I was fluent in the stateās sins, but I was illiterate in its people.ā
Seeing pictures and footage of the young festival-goers hit home for Thomas. āThey were kids my age, just dancing, and then fleeing for their lives the next moment. I could see myself in them. I could have been sending a last āI love youā message to my mum. I felt so much empathy and sadness.ā
One element in particular changed everything ā an audio clip of a jubilant Hamas fighter phoning his father to let him know heād killed 10 Jews. āMy heart sank because these [were meant to be] our martyrs. [This was] the resistance we were claiming we wanted. When we called for any means necessary, I didnāt realise thatās what it meant.ā
Months later, Thomas was invited on a trip to Israel organised by a group combatting anti-Semitism on campus. āI knew if I was going to continue to speak on this, I needed to see it for myself,ā she says.
During the 10-day trip last March, she met with Israelis, Ethiopian Jews, Palestinians, Druze and Bedouin. āI was shocked at how much diversity I saw ā I didnāt even know Israel had black people,ā she said.
On the fourth day, the group had to take cover during a missile attack. āOur guide told us to get on the ground, and I put my hands over my neck and prayed. āI thought about the irony of how Iād called for the divestment of the very system I was praying for,ā she says. āIt [the missile] didnāt care about my politics or what I posted or any of that. I was a target, a body on the ground, and I felt utterly useless.ā
Fortunately the missile was intercepted and the trip continued, but the experience left Thomas shaken. She says it made her realise āhow cushy and comfortable a lifeā she had in America, and that sheād not realised the āreal consequencesā of what sheād been calling for.
āIt felt like being stoned publiclyā
Back home, she posted a picture of her trip online ā a decision that cost her dearly. āMy best friend of three years asked, āIs this in Israel?ā I said, āYeah, do you want to talk about it?ā She immediately blocked me. I hadnāt even expressed anything. I literally said I went. Period.ā
Her post opened the floodgates. āI lost every single friendā, while her classmates āposted really disgusting thingsā, including labelling her a āgenocidal apologistā. Thomas says she was doxxed, and received death threats and racist abuse ā and that her family was also targeted. āIt was like a crusade and felt like being stoned publicly.ā
She now takes a dim view of the encampment atmosphere. āIt completely insulates you in this echo chamber and indoctrinates you. If you had any questions, youād lose your social belonging ā the last thing you wanted to be called was a Zionist.ā
She adds that the protestersā āattention turned into this hatredā and there were constant calls for the ānormalisation of violenceā. Some activists, for example, celebrated the assassinations of Charlie Kirk, the Right-wing political activist, and Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, she says.
The mental toll had become so heavy on Thomas that she stepped away from her studies late last year. What helped get her through this tough period is the new friendships she has formed, including some with Jewish students.
āThey knew I came from the encampments and they engaged with me, intellectually argued with me, disagreed with me, but we still broke bread on Shabbat,ā she says. āI learned from my [now] best friend that she was doxxed because of people within our movement. I know I have to repair some of those damages.ā
āOpen your heart and put down those megaphonesā
Thomas says her family are not politically engaged in the issue of Israel and Gaza and she has faced questions from her mother about her involvement. āShe was just like, āWhy are you doing this? It isnāt your burden to shoulder.ā She just wants her family to be safe and protected.ā
But Thomas hopes that by sharing her story it will encourage others to experience the Nova exhibition. āI hope the people who are protesting will come ā I just want them to go inside,ā she says. āNone of this is political. Just look and learn the stories ā you donāt have to agree. Come in with an open heart and an open mind and put down those megaphones.ā
As for Thomas, she hopes to return to university in September, but in the meantime, she is determined to do what she can to increase cross-community understanding. āA lot of us on the pro-Palestine side were recruited through empathy, so I think we can be reached through it too. Because of this unique perspective I have of what changed my heart, I think I can hopefully change other peopleās.
āIām not Jewish. Iām an African American woman. But a lot of our struggles are parallel,ā she says. āWeāre seeing an increase in anti-Semitism, weāre seeing an increase in extremism and political violence. Thereās just no way that I can now sit back, kick my feet up and call it a day.ā
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