Gal Gadot will not attend Venice Film Festival due to pressure from anti-Israeli group
"Targeting Gal Gadot has nothing to do with helping Palestine. It's just discrimination, and we should call it out as such," said Israeli researcher and writer Hen Mazzig.
Israeli actress Gal Gadot
Israeli actress Gal Gadot has decided not to participate in the Venice Film Festival this year, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported. The artist, known for her role in "Wonder Woman," was scheduled to be present at the screening of the film "In the Hands of Dante," directed by Julien Schnabel, in which she stars alongside Gerard Butler. However, pressure from an anti-Israeli movement has led Gadot to change her plans.
The group Venice4Palestine, which brings together more than 1,500 Italian film professionals, including directors, actors and artists, has pushed a campaign for the festival to take a clear stance on the conflict in the Middle East. In an open letter published last weekend, this collective demanded the withdrawal of invitations to actors who, according to them, have publicly expressed support for the Israeli government. A second letter sent Sunday specifically singled out Gadot, intensifying demands that she not attend the event.
Schnabel's film, which will screen outside the main competition on Sept. 3, coincides with the screening of "The Voice of Hind Rajab," a political drama from Tunisian director Kauther Ben Hania. This film, which is competing in the festival, deals with the tragic death of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza in 2024, who Palestinian authorities say was killed by Israeli fire during the war on terror in the strip. The coincidence of these two films has stoked tensions surrounding the event.
In addition, a demonstration is expected to be held in Venice on Aug. 30 under the slogan "Stop the Genocide - Free Palestine," reflecting the climate of polarization surrounding the festival this year. Gadot's absence, according to reports, seeks to prevent the controversy from overshadowing the film's promotion.
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"It's simply discrimination"
Israeli researcher and writer Hen Mazzig repudiated the letter written by Venice4Palestine.
"It is ridiculous that such a letter was even sent," he expressed in a post on X. "In Israel, just like in every other country, it is the politicians, not the actors, who call the shots," he added.
"Anyone can criticize Israel. I do," he maintained. "But criticizing a country doesn't mean cancelling all its citizens," he added.
"Targeting Gal Gadot has nothing to do with helping Palestine. It's just discrimination, and we should call it out as such," concluded Mazzig.
U.S. envoy accuses France of failing to act on antisemitism
In an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron published in The Wall Street Journal, Charles Kushner expressed his "deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it." The letter goes on to state that "not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized."
The letter is dated Aug. 25, despite being published a day earlier, a date Kushner notes is "the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil" under Nazi German occupation.
Antisemitism has "long scarred French life," Kushner wrote, but has "exploded" since the Oct. 7 massacre and amid the subsequent war in Gaza.
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