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Former Hamas Captive Has Hostage Pin Confiscated at Cannes as Over 900 Filmmakers, Actors Accuse Israel of ‘Genocide’
A woman takes a picture of one of the official double poster featuring a joint tribute to the two actors Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the film “A Man and a Woman” (Un homme et une femme), on the Festival Palace before the opening of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Former Hamas hostage Mia Schem said management at the 78th Cannes Film Festival confiscated a pin in support of the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip that she intended to wear on the red carpet of the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday.
Schem told Israel’s N12 that at the entrance of the red carpet, members of the security team at Cannes told her she was forbidden from wearing a ribbon that said “Bring Them Home Now,” a rallying call for the immediate return of the hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza after being kidnapped during the terror group’s deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. After her pin was confiscated, Schem took another pin, featuring a yellow ribbon in support of the hostages, from a member of the Israeli delegation and wore it on her dress while walking the red carpet.
“I came to help in the fight to return the kidnapped,” she told N12. “Unfortunately, at the entrance to the red carpet, the festival management confiscated the ribbon that I was supposed to wear. I did not agree to give it up. I took the yellow hostage pin from one of the members of the delegation and wore it on my dress.”
Schem was invited to attend Cannes by the local Jewish community to raise awareness about the hostages who remain in Gaza. A day before the incident at Cannes, she was hosted by the mayor of Nice and spoke before the city council.
Leading up to the Cannes Film Festival this year, an open letter condemning the movie industry for remaining silent about the alleged “genocide” taking place in Gaza was published and signed by members of the film industry. The letter was initially signed by a little more than 300 filmmakers and actors, but by the end of the festival on Saturday, more than 900 people had signed the letter. The signatories include Juliette Binoche, who chaired the jury at Cannes this year; French actress Catherine Deneuve; “Schindler’s List” star Ralph Fiennes; British director Danny Boyle; actresses Susan Sarandon and Rooney Mara; and actors Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, Javier Bardem, Richard Gere, and Joaquin Phoenix.
The open letter was published by an initiative called “Artists for Fatem,” which refers to Fatima (“Fatem”) Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian freelance photojournalist who was the subject of the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” that premiered as part of the ACID Cannes selection. Hassona and 10 of her family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month.
Palestinian twin brothers and directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser won the best director award on Friday in the Un Certain Regard section for their crime thriller “Once Upon a Time in Gaza.” During the film’s premiere, the Gaza-born brothers reportedly criticized Israel, claiming that “Gaza is undergoing the greatest and most horrific genocide in modern history.” They dedicated their best director win to Palestinians and said in their acceptance speech: “Soon Palestinians will be free, Insha’Allah.”
“I’m Glad You’re Dead Now” — a film by Palestinian-Israeli director, screenwriter, and actor Tawfeek Barhom — won the Palme d’Or award in the short film category at Cannes on Saturday night. Barhom directed, wrote, and starred in the film. At a press conference after receiving the Palme d’Or award for best short film, he dedicated his win to “Palestine.”
“The liberation of people shouldn’t antagonize anyone else. There’s very big difference between liberation and peace,” he said. “This is for Palestine and for peace and enough with hate. Let’s stop this madness.”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked the red carpet at Cannes last week wearing a hunter green button-down shirt that said “Stop Israel” on the back. He wore the shirt open over a white shirt that included the names of almost 5,000 children who were allegedly killed by Israel in Gaza. He attended Cannes to support “The Six Billion Dollar Man,” a new documentary about his life that is directed by American filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. The filmmaker was awarded the first-ever Golden Globe Prize for Documentary at Cannes.
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Hostage Deal talks Stalled as Hamas Rejects New Israeli Framework – Report
US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
i24 News – i24NEWS’s diplomatic affairs correspondent, Amichai Stein, reported Sunday evening that negotiations over a potential hostage deal have hit a standstill.
According to political sources, “the negotiations are stalled, Hamas is refusing the new framework presented by Israel.”
Throughout the day, no direct negotiation meetings were held. Instead, the small security cabinet is set to convene this evening to discuss the state of the talks.
There is also speculation of a potential meeting between Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump to address the impasse and broader regional dynamics.
In parallel, Arab diplomats have reportedly issued a warning to Israel regarding its plan to construct a “humanitarian city” in Gaza. According to sources, diplomats cautioned that the initiative could harm the fragile fabric of the Abraham Accords and inflame regional tensions.
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Iran: ‘Israel Will Pay the Price’ for Allegedly Trying to Kill Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was slightly injured in the leg during an Israeli airstrike, according to a report on Sunday by the Iranian news agency Fars, prompting Iran to launch a widespread probe to root out suspected moles that infiltrated the Islamic Republic’s highest ranks.
Al Jazeera cited an unnamed Iranian official who said, “The assassination attempt on President Pezeshkian will not go unanswered – Israel will pay the price.”
According to Fars, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the attack took place on the morning of Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was held on the lower floors of a building in western Tehran. In addition to the Iranian president, Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the head of the judiciary Mohseni Ajei, as well as other senior regime officials were attending this meeting.
Six bombs or missiles targeted the entry and exit points of the building in order to block evacuation routes and disrupt air circulation, the report said. This operation is said to have been inspired by the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last year. Following the explosions, power was cut on that floor, but the leaders managed to escape through an emergency exit prepared in advance.
Pezeshkian and several other officials sustained minor leg injuries during the evacuation, according to the agency. Given the accuracy of the information used in the attack, the media outlet reports that authorities are investigating the possibility of collaboration with Israel.
Official confirmation and reactions
A few days earlier, a high-ranking military leader in the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaei, had stated on state television that Israel had “attacked six locations where the Supreme National Security Council had gathered, but none of its members had suffered even minor injuries.”
Pezeshkian had previously accused Israel of having attempted to assassinate him. “They tried, yes,” he told American journalist Tucker Carlson during an interview last week. “They acted accordingly, but they failed.”
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Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show
A drone view of buildings in Lebanon, next to the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, as seen from Metula in northern Israel, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
i24 News – The Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah violate the ceasefire agreement with Israel more than seven times a day on average, according to Israel Defense Forces data obtained by i24NEWS and made public for the first time on Saturday.
Israel has flagged upward of 1,200 violations by Hezbollah in its report to the US-led five-country monitoring panel tasked with supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Of these, 650 violations were relayed to the Lebanese army for handling, while the rest of the times the IDF responded by attacking the violators.
The Lebanese army has identified 390 additional violations on its own initiative and filed a report saying that it had handled them.
Thus official data shows that the Lebanese army handled 52% of all violations, and 440 of the targets Israel flagged by Israel.
The majority of the infractions the Lebanese army manages to stem are concentrated in the south of the country.
The post Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show first appeared on Algemeiner.com.