David Sheen is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist based in Israel. Born into a Jewish family in Canada before immigrating to Israel, Sheen views his Jewish identity as a moral responsibility that compels him to stand at the social margins, using an insider’s perspective to examine and expose racism, bigotry, and xenophobia within Israeli society.
Sheen has achieved significant recognition in investigative journalism, particularly for his in-depth documentation of the plight of African migrants and refugees in Israel, which earned him a Hellman-Hammett Grant. His films and reporting frequently appear in international outlets such as The Guardian and Al Jazeera. He is widely recognized as an expert on far-right incitement in Israel, with his research repeatedly revealing how hate speech is translated into systemic state policy.
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.” Believing that dehumanizing propaganda against Palestinians is the foundation upon which the occupation is sustained, he uses lectures, film, and social media to dismantle these narratives, openly calling for global resistance against such exclusionary political systems in pursuit of true equality and justice.