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Israeli actress Gal Gadot will not appear at the upcoming 82nd annual Venice Film Festival after pro-Palestinian activists vowed to turn the focus of the event to the “genocide” in Gaza and Italian film professionals demanded that supporters of Israel be banned from participating.
One anti-Israel initiative, dubbed Venice4Palestine, gathered signatures from more than 1,500 Italian directors, actors, screenwriters, and other industry workers.
The group urged the Venice Film Festival “to be more courageous and clear in condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing across Palestine carried out by the Israeli government and army.”
The open letter specifically demanded that Gadot be barred from the event along with her co-star, Scottish actor Gerard Butler. Butler has publicly expressed support for Israel.
Local pro-Palestinian organizations said they intended to shift the focus of the festival away from films and celebrities and instead highlight alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
The statement said that “the denial of humanitarian aid, water and food is a strategy of genocide.”
Speaking at an Anti-Defamation League event in New York earlier this year, Gadot spoke out about personal attacks against her because of her Jewish heritage and Israeli identity.
“My name is Gal, and I’m Jewish. Isn’t it crazy that just saying that — just expressing such a simple fact about who I am — feels like a controversial statement? But, sadly, this is where we’re at today,” Gadot said.
“This is a time when many of us in the Jewish community have had to find our voice and confront the hatred against us, even if it’s extremely uncomfortable,” she added.
“That’s been the case for all of us in every walk of life, in every profession, including my own.”