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Rabat – French-Lebanese Actress Manal Issa has taken a stand against Israel’s repression of Gaza at the 2018 Cannes Festival. The 26-year-old artist hoisted a sign that said “Stop the Attack on Gaza!!” on the red carpet, before the premiere of the film “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Tuesday night.
If Cannes is all about beautiful faces, great movies and fancy dresses, it is also a platform to send clear and strong messages on political matters.
Issa took advantage of her moments in front of photographers to deploy a placard in support of the people of Gaza, after the bloody quashing by the Israeli army.
With her gesture, the heroine of “Parisienne” (2015) and “Mon tissu préféré” (2018) joined a wave of indignation against the massacre of Palestinian civilians. Issa’s protest symbolizes support for the right of Palestinians to return to land occupied by Israeli settlers and a stand against the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, inaugurated Monday with blood and guns.
Earlier in the day, dozens of people held a minute of silence in the Palestinian booth of the Cannes Film Festival, including American actor Benicio del Toro. This is the first year that Palestine has had its own booth at the event.
Last year at the festival, stars of the film “Aquarius” used signs to denounce a “coup” in Brazil.
May 14 was one of the bloodiest days in Gaza’s history. Israeli forces injured over 1,900 people and killed over 50 people, including eight children, who were protesting the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In the days leading up to the inauguration of the US embassy on Monday approximately 35,000 Gazans joined the protests.
According to AFP, a special meeting of the UN Human Rights Council is scheduled to be held Friday in Geneva to discuss “the deterioration of the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.” The United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland have supported the idea of investigations launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in late March.
