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European film festivals hit with controversies over Israel-Hamas war
(JTA) — The war between Israel and Hamas continues to divide the cultural world, as two European film festivals this week found themselves embroiled in controversy over their handling of both Israeli and pro-Palestinian filmmakers.
The Stockholm International Film Festival, in Sweden, apologized Monday for what it said was a “misunderstanding” surrounding a planned guest, Israeli-American filmmaker and actress Aleeza Chanowitz. The festival had planned to have Chanowitz attend a screening this week of her raunchy comedy series “Chanshi,” which she created and stars in as an Orthodox American woman who moves to Israel on a quest for sex with male soldiers.
But in emails Chanowitz first shared with Deadline, organizers walked back the invitation, at first saying the Israeli embassy could no longer provide travel costs, then citing a Swedish Foreign Embassy warning against travel to and from Israel. When she pushed further, organizers at the festival reportedly told her the organization had “to take a stand” and that her appearance at the festival could be an “unpleasant situation.”
“I am surprised by the festival’s cowardice, and it really sucks because I wanted to have a nice time at a cultural event where I could take a break from our scary reality and enjoy and discuss art,” Chanowitz told Deadline. “I also ‘have had to take a stand’; I stand with the Jews, Israelis of all kinds, peace with our neighbors, and most of all with the families of the hostages.”
After the story blew up in the Israeli press, the festival issued an apology and offered to host Chanowitz in a virtual Q&A, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Claiming that “incorrect information” was spread about the reason behind the change, the festival said in a statement, “We are incredibly sorry about this bad communication that has caused pain for the team and for the wider Jewish community.”
While the Stockholm controversy was unfolding, another was taking place in the Netherlands. At the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, around a dozen filmmakers have pulled their work from the festival’s lineup over its stance on the phrase “From the River to the Sea.”
The collective, along with the Palestine Film Institute, was angry with festival organizers for condemning an opening-night pro-Palestinian protest. At the protest, demonstrators had unfurled a banner reading “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” a controversial phrase that many argue has historical roots in calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Claiming that he had not seen the banner at the time, festival director Orwa Nyrabia was caught on camera applauding the protests. He later condemned the banner after pushback from Israeli filmmakers, who wrote in an open letter, “We see this as a personal attack against us.”
The festival’s eventual statement on the slogan remarked that it “does not represent us, and we do not endorse it in any way. We are truly sorry that it was hurtful to many.” Festival organizers also called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has bombarded for more than a month since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, and for humanitarian aid to enter the region.
After announcing that stance, several pro-Palestinian filmmakers announced they would be pulling their films from the event, including at least one Iranian director.
“I am heartbroken, betrayed, and outraged by the damaging slander of the slogan ‘From the River to the Sea,’” Iranian filmmaker Maryam Tafakory announced on Instagram as she pulled her film. “To call this slogan ‘hurtful’ is to be against the end of occupation.”
The Palestine Film Institute, which pulled out of plans to showcase several films and participate in the festival’s marketplace, issued its own statement saying the festival “unjustly criminalizes Palestinian voices and narratives.” While the phrase has been criminalized in Germany, the institute said it has not been banned in the Netherlands. The institute later issued another statement praising the festival for supporting a ceasefire.
Among the films the institute had slated to show at the festival was “Bye Bye Tiberias,” a documentary about the family of Palestinian-Israeli-French actress Hiam Abbass, best known for her role in the HBO series “Succession.”
The controversies in Stockholm and Amsterdam mirrored other debates around Israel that have unfolded in arts and culture spaces, including at the 92NY in New York City and among the staff of the art magazine Artforum. In both cases, blowback to Israel-critical open letters resulted in staff at the institutions either resigning or being fired.
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The post European film festivals hit with controversies over Israel-Hamas war appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.