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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.