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Film Festival Backtracks on Condemnation of Anti-Israel ‘From the River to the Sea’ Slogan After Directors Withdraw From Event
Anti-Israel protesters hold a banner that says, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” standing in front of the president’s palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Nov. 5, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/Marek Antoni Iwanczuk via Reuters Connect
Organizers of the 2023 International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) currently taking place in Amsterdam have walked back their criticism of a rallying cry widely known as a call for the destruction of Israel after a number of pro-Palestinian directors withdrew their participation in the film festival.
The IDFA’s Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday that “around 10” directors have pulled their films from the festival’s lineup. The Palestine Film Institute (PFI) announced on Sunday that it too has withdrawn from all activities at the IDFA film market. The PFI additionally organized a protest outside the main IDFA headquarters on Monday to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and to criticize the IDFA.
In response, Nyrabia said, “We respect the choices and the decisions of all filmmakers, whether that is to speak their minds on stage or online or to withdraw their films. All forms of peaceful protest, including criticism of our work, we honor and respect.”
The IDFA is the world’s largest documentary film festival. At its opening night on Nov. 8, pro-Palestinian protesters rushed on stage and held a banner that read, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan has been widely interpreted as a call for Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, to be eradicated and replaced by “Palestine.” It has also been used to defend the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel that took place on Oct. 7.
Last week, the US House of Representatives voted to censure Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her use of the slogan. A resolution passed by 22 Democrats and most Republicans called the slogan “a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel and its people to replace it with a Palestinian state.”
A day after the incident at the film festival’s opening night, 16 prominent members of the Israeli film community — including the chair of the Israeli Film Academy, chairwoman of the Israeli Documentary Forum, and chairman of the Israeli Producers Union — wrote a letter to the IDFA. They asked the festival and its director to “clearly and resoundingly distance themselves, reject and denounce these calls for violence and withdraw any platform from those who knowingly incite for the annihilation of Israel, instigating violence and giving rise to antisemitic sentiments against Jews everywhere.”
IDFA organizers afterwards condemned the slogan in a statement released on Nov. 10.
“That slogan does not represent us, and we do not endorse it in any way. We are truly sorry that it was hurtful to many,” the statement read in part. “We understand that the slogan was hurtful, and sincerely apologize for how this happened. There are many ways that people use or read this slogan, and that various sides use it in opposing ways, all of which we do not agree with, and we believe that this slogan should not be used in any way and by anybody anymore.”
Nyrabia added that the slogan is “a triggering statement and an offensive declaration for many, regardless of who carries it. It does not represent IDFA, and was and will not be endorsed.” The Syrian-born filmmaker also denied allegations that he was applauding the banner that featured the slogan on opening night, saying that he did not see the words on the sign until afterwards and “clapped to welcome freedom of speech, and not to welcome the slogan.”
In a separate statement released on Nov. 10, the film festival called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After the release of the statement slamming the “river to the sea” slogan, a number of pro-Palestinian producers and the PFI announced their withdrawal from the film festival. PFI additionally accused the IDFA of engaging in “institutional violence and censorship.” It said that by condemning the actions of the anti-Israel protesters at the festival’s opening night, the IDFA was responsible for the “vilification of Palestinian voices.”
The IDFA responded to the backlash in its most recent statement published on Nov. 12, when it repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, accused Israel of “occupation,” and clarified its stance regarding the slogan, appearing to somewhat justify its usage.
“Many filmmakers, Palestinians, Israelis, and others, whose work featured at IDFA over the years, showed the world how occupation is the core of this tragedy, and that ending the occupation and respecting all human lives as equal and sacred, are the essential steps,” the statement read.
The festival then said it recognizes that the controversial slogan “is at the heart of the on-going discussion is used by various parties in different ways and is perceived by various people in various manners.”
“We are not ignoring, undermining, nor criminalizing any of these positions, and we fully respect and acknowledge the pain that is going around and the extreme urgency of these discussions while war is still on, and innocent civilians are still dying,” the statement added. “Our aim is to make sure everybody feels welcome and safe to express themselves and to listen openly to others, even when in disagreement. Our hope is that everybody feels entitled to use this platform, seriously and responsibly, lovingly and sincerely.”
Iranian filmmaker Maryam Tafakory is among the directors to withdraw from the IDFA after it criticized the anti-Israel slogan. She pulled her film Mast-del from the film festival’s lineup and said in an Instagram post that she is “heartbroken, betrayed, and outraged by the damaging slander” of the “from the river to the sea” phrase. In the same social media post, she accused Israel of being an “apartheid state,” of “ethnic cleansing,” and of committing an “ongoing genocide” agains Palestinians.
The International Documentary Film Festival is taking place Nov. 8-19. On Wednesday, it awarded top prizes to a film about a “stateless Palestinian child” living in a refugee camp in Beirut, titled Son of the Streets, and another film titled Coexistence, My Ass! about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but with a comedic twist.
In a statement about awarding Son of the Streets at the IDFA Forum Awards, jurors Zdeněk Blaha and Nada Riyadh explained “with our decision, we would like to support not only a specific aspiring talent but also a cause,” in a clear reference to supporting the Palestinians. “If there was one project that needs support at this moment the most, it is this one. We would like to recognize the struggle of a nation forced to live as ghosts caught between the walls. Without home, without identity, without land.”
The post Film Festival Backtracks on Condemnation of Anti-Israel ‘From the River to the Sea’ Slogan After Directors Withdraw From Event 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.