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Anti-Israel Protesters Storm Screening of Israeli Film at Toronto Festival
A scene from “Bliss (Hemda).” Photo: TIFF
Anti-Israel protesters interrupted a screening of an Israeli film at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Wednesday by demonstrating on stage before the show began and also chanting against the Jewish state outside the theater where the screening took place.
The film “Bliss (Hemda)” made its international premiere at the film festival. Before its screening began inside the TIFF Lightbox Cinema, a small group of approximately four protesters jumped on stage and shouted slogans against Israel, including “Free Palestine” as well as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
The protesters told the audience “Shame on all of you,” shouted multiple false claims, and held banners about Israel committing “genocide” against Palestinians, according to a video from the scene obtained by Israel’s N12. Another demonstrator introduced the group as “a coalition of Jewish people, filmmakers [and] artists and we say no to genocide.” They continued to protest while being escorted off the stage and out of the theater by security personnel.
As the protesters were led out of the theater, the audience began chanting “Bring them home,” calling for Hamas to release the 101 hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. The screening then proceeded as planned.
Outside the TIFF Lightbox Cinema, protesters chanted “Free Palestine,” against falsely accused Israel of genocide, held Palestinian flags, and raised anti-Israel posters, including one that said “Boycott Israel.” Another sign said “Turtle Island to Palestine, colonization is a crime,” and a separate poster read: “Bliss normalizes Israel apartheid.”
“Bliss” is a drama about an older married couple — played by Sasson Gabay, from “Shtisel” fame, and Asi Levi – confronting a number of challenges in their marriage, which is now intensified by the presence of two young men, who introduce new threats to their already fragile marriage. A synopsis of the film provided by TIFF stated that “Bliss” was written and shot before the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, but “certain scenes touch lightly on interactions between Jewish and Arab culture and language in Israel.”
The Hebrew and Arabic language film is directed by Shemi Zarhin, who was born in Tiberias and is now based in Tel Aviv. The director, who is also a screenwriter and novelist, has had previous films screened at TIFF. He told The Hollywood Reporter that “Bliss” was shot in locations across northern Israel that were later bombed and destroyed by Hezbollah missiles fired from southern Lebanon during the current Israel-Hamas war. A community center with a swimming pool that was a central location in the film was completely destroyed.
Watch a trailer for the film below.
The post Anti-Israel Protesters Storm Screening of Israeli Film at Toronto Festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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