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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.
The post Former Hamas Captive Has Hostage Pin Confiscated at Cannes as Over 900 Filmmakers, Actors Accuse Israel of ‘Genocide’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says It Would Reduce Troops in Lebanon if Beirut Takes Steps to Disarm Hezbollah
An Israeli tank is positioned on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, March 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
Israel on Monday signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the Lebanese armed forces took action to disarm Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group Hezbollah.
The announcement from the Israeli prime minister’s office came a day after Benjamin Netanyahu met with US envoy Tom Barrack, who has been heavily involved in a plan that would disarm Hezbollah and withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon.
“If the Lebanese Armed Forces take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction” by the Israeli military, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
The statement did not explicitly say if Israeli forces would fully withdraw from the five positions they hold in Lebanon.
The Israeli military has maintained a presence in southern Lebanon near the border since agreeing to a United States-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.
Israel was to withdraw its forces within two months and Lebanon‘s armed forces were to take control of the country’s south, territory that has long been a stronghold for Hezbollah.
This month, Lebanon‘s cabinet tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish state control over arms by December, a challenge to Hezbollah, which has rejected calls to disarm.
The prime minister’s office described the Lebanese cabinet’s decision to back the move as a momentous decision. Israel stood “ready to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah,” the statement said without saying what support it could provide.
Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, has said Israel should comply with the plan for Hezbollah disarmament, which would mean the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The Israeli military continues to carry out periodic air strikes in Lebanon that it said targeted Hezbollah terrorists and facilities used by the Islamist group to store weapons.
Palestinian factions in Lebanon surrendered some weapons to the armed forces last week as part of the disarmament plan.
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Syria Says Israel Takes Some Territory Around Mount Hermon Despite Talks
Israeli forces operate at a location given as Mount Hermon region, Syria, in this handout image released Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Syria said on Monday that Israel had sent 60 soldiers to take control of an area inside the Syrian border around Mount Hermon, saying the operation violated its sovereignty and posed a further threat to regional security.
Israel did not immediately comment on the accusation by Syria‘s foreign ministry, which comes as the two countries engage in US-mediated talks on de-escalating their conflict in southern Syria. Damascus hopes to reach a security arrangement that could eventually pave the way for broader political talks.
Monday’s incident took place near a strategic hilltop that overlooks Beit Jinn, an area of southern Syria close to the border with Lebanon, the ministry said. Israel also arrested six Syrians there, according to residents in the area.
The area is known for arms smuggling by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group and by Palestinian jihadist factions. Previous Israeli incursions have mostly been in the southern Quneitra governorate.
The Israeli military on Sunday shared footage of what it said were troops locating weapons storage facilities last week in southern Syria.
“This dangerous escalation is considered a direct threat to regional peace and security,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel has cited its own security concerns for its military interventions inside Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December, including what it sees as its obligation to protect members of the Druze minority in southern Syria.
Hundreds of people were reported killed in clashes last month in the southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by the Syrian government forces.
In January, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would remain on the summit of Mount Hermon indefinitely.
Israel has since then formed a de facto security zone, where it regularly patrols, sets up checkpoints, and carries out searches and raids in villages.
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Widespread Anti-Israel Protests Held in Australia
Demonstrators hold a placard as they take part in the ‘Nationwide March for Palestine’ protest in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Thousands of Australians joined anti-Israel rallies on Sunday, organizers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the center-left government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne.
In Sydney, organizer Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to “demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel” as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted “free, free Palestine.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organizations, told Sky News television that the rallies created “an unsafe environment and shouldn’t be happening.”
The protests follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week stepping up his personal attacks on his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision this month to recognize a Palestinian state.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel soured after Albanese’s Labor government said it would conditionally recognize Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain, and Canada.
The Aug. 11 announcement came days after tens of thousands of people marched across Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge, calling for peace and aid deliveries to Gaza, where Israel began an offensive nearly two years ago after the Hamas terrorist group launched a deadly cross-border attack.