By:  Fern Sidman

The Venice Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the world and one of the most prestigious platforms for global cinema, opened its 82nd edition this week under an atmosphere charged with political tension. Anti-Israel demonstrators staged rallies outside the festival’s main building on Wednesday, only hours before the official opening ceremony, with organizers bracing for larger demonstrations planned for Saturday.

According to AFP, approximately 20 protesters gathered initially, carrying hand-drawn placards that read “Free Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide.” The small group represented a regional left-wing Italian political collective, which has linked its campaign against Israel to broader efforts to radicalize cultural platforms. As The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported on Thursday, cultural institutions across Europe have in recent years become prominent stages for anti-Israel activism, with activists seeking to turn red carpets, art exhibitions, and literary festivals into vehicles for political agitation.

Though Wednesday’s demonstration was relatively small, it is being viewed as a precursor to what organizers promise will be a far larger march on Saturday. Hundreds of local political organizations and activist groups have pledged to take part, Deadline Hollywood reported. Protesters are expected to gather at Santa Maria Elisabetta, the water bus stop on the Lido—the narrow 6.8-mile-long island in the Venetian Lagoon that hosts the festival—before proceeding toward the main venue and its iconic red carpet.

The Hollywood Reporter added that the protest’s timing was deliberately chosen to coincide with the arrival of global stars, directors, and producers, who annually descend on Venice to premiere some of the most anticipated films of the year. The intent, activists have openly declared, is to force international media coverage of their slogans by leveraging the global spotlight on the festival.

For the Jewish community, the specter of cultural boycotts tied to Israel is not new. JNS has frequently noted that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has long pursued the tactic of inserting political hostility to Israel into artistic and academic spaces. The planned Venice demonstrations follow a familiar script: a small but vocal group of activists attempting to dominate headlines and pressure cultural institutions into adopting their political line.

Even before the festival officially began, pressure had been mounting. On Friday, the Italian film industry group Venice4Palestine (V4P) issued an open letter to festival organizers, calling on them to take a public stance against what it described as the “ongoing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing across Palestine,” El País reported.

A second letter followed, demanding that the festival revoke invitations to actors Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler, both of whom are perceived by these groups as pro-Israel. Gadot, who served in the Israel Defense Forces and has spoken in defense of Israel in the past, has been a frequent target of pro-Hamas activists. Butler, who participated in past solidarity initiatives for Israel, was also named.

However, Ynet News reported that Gadot was never scheduled to attend the festival, dismissing claims that she had canceled her appearance due to pressure. “I was never meant to be there,” the Israeli actress clarified, though her name has nonetheless been invoked in the rhetoric of the protesters.

The JNS report emphasized that the targeting of Jewish or pro-Israel figures in the arts—be they performers, filmmakers, or academics—is a key element of modern antisemitic strategies. Calls to exclude Gadot and Butler mirror earlier campaigns against Jewish musicians, professors, or writers, reflecting the troubling persistence of cultural boycotts.

Amid this storm of activist demands, Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera sought to clarify the institution’s stance. Speaking to El País, Barbera stressed that the festival is “a cultural institution, the most important in Italy, an open space for dialogue.” He underscored that the festival does not take official political positions: “Taking positions or making political statements is not our job. We welcome everyone; we have never censored an artist, nor will we do so now.”

At the same time, Barbera attempted to balance neutrality with empathy. “No one can doubt the Biennale’s attitude and the clarity of its position on these tragic issues, nor believe that we are insensitive to what is happening,” he said. As evidence of the festival’s awareness, Barbera pointed to the inclusion of The Voice of Hind Rajab, a Tunisian film by director Kaouther Ben Hania that depicts the story of a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed during the Gaza war. Its selection into the main competition demonstrates, he argued, the festival’s openness to confronting painful realities through art.

For critics, however, the inclusion of such films can raise concerns about imbalance. As the JNS report indicated, cultural spaces often platform narratives that highlight Palestinian suffering while ignoring or minimizing Israeli victims of terrorism. This year, for instance, while the tragic story of Hind Rajab is featured prominently, the memory of Israeli victims of Hamas atrocities, including the October 7, 2023, massacre, has been relegated to lesser visibility.

The weight of celebrity influence has amplified the political significance of The Voice of Hind Rajab. Deadline Hollywood confirmed that high-profile actors and filmmakers, including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer, have attached their names as executive producers after viewing an early cut of the film. Their involvement guarantees that the film will receive extraordinary global attention, heightening concerns in pro-Israel circles that the Venice red carpet could become a megaphone for one-sided narratives.

Meanwhile, Gadot and Butler are both associated with the festival through their roles in the film In the Hand of Dante, set to be screened on September 3. Though Gadot is not attending, the film’s association with her name has become enough to trigger activist ire.

The JNS report noted in its coverage that the selective outrage directed at figures like Gadot demonstrates how anti-Israel groups seek symbolic victories—pressuring cultural organizers to distance themselves from prominent Jews or Israel supporters even if they are only tangentially involved.

It is worth recalling that the Venice Film Festival has not ignored Israeli perspectives. In 2023, the docudrama Of Dogs and Men by Israeli director Dani Rosenberg, which explored the aftermath of the Hamas-led massacre of October 7 in southern Israel, competed in the festival’s Orizzonti section, a parallel program to the main Golden Lion competition. While not given the same prominence as some Palestinian narratives, its inclusion highlighted that Israeli artists continue to contribute meaningfully to global cinema, even as they grapple with trauma and existential threats.

As JNS reported, cultural representation has become a battlefield. For Israel, participation in festivals like Venice is not simply about artistic merit but about asserting the legitimacy of Jewish voices amid efforts to silence or boycott them.

The protests planned for Venice reflect a broader global phenomenon: the politicization of art and entertainment. From Cannes to Berlin, from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to New York’s cultural institutions, the presence of Jewish artists or pro-Israel voices often draws activist campaigns aimed at delegitimization.

The Jewish News Syndicate has argued repeatedly that such protests are less about solidarity with Palestinians than about exploiting highly visible cultural stages to normalize hostility toward Israel. By forcing cultural organizers into defensive positions, activists aim to blur the line between legitimate criticism of policy and wholesale rejection of Israel’s right to exist.

The Venice Film Festival thus finds itself caught between its identity as a showcase for world cinema and the political demands of groups determined to turn art into another front of the anti-Israel campaign.

As the Venice Film Festival marks its 82nd anniversary, the glitter of premieres and red carpets is once again entangled with global political struggles. What began with a handful of demonstrators waving “Free Palestine” banners is expected to crescendo into a large-scale march seeking to dominate the narrative around this year’s edition.

Festival director Alberto Barbera has insisted that the Biennale remains a cultural forum open to all voices. Yet, as JNS reported, neutrality in cultural spaces is increasingly challenged by activists who see every stage as an opportunity for political struggle. The call to disinvite Gal Gadot and Gerard Butler, the elevation of Palestinian tragedy through high-profile films, and the muted presence of Israeli narratives all underscore how contested the terrain of culture has become.

For Israel and the Jewish world, Venice is not just a festival of cinema—it is a reminder that art and politics are now inseparably bound, and that global stages are as much arenas of ideological confrontation as they are of creative celebration.