David Sheen is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist based in Israel. Born to a Jewish family in Canada before immigrating to Israel, he frames his investigative reporting on state-sanctioned racism and far-right violence as an extension of Jewish ethical responsibility.
Sheen is best known for his reporting and documentary films on the experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees in Israel. His investigative video work for outlets like The Nation includes short documentaries such as “Israel’s Religious Right and the War on African Migrants” and “Ku Klux Klan in the Holy Land,” which document racial incitement and mob violence against non-Jewish minorities. For his reporting on the plight of African migrants, he received a Hellman-Hammett Grant from Human Rights Watch.
Sheen steadfastly supports Palestinian liberation by analyzing the racist nature of Israeli political discourse. He not only travels to the frontlines to document settler violence but also works on the international stage to expose what he calls Israel’s ideology of “pure racism.” Through his writing for The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and social media, Sheen documents settler violence in the West Bank and advocates for ending systemic discrimination against Palestinians and non-Jewish residents.