RSS
Israeli Actress Noa Cohen Responds to Backlash About Her Playing Jesus’s Mother in Netflix Film ‘Mary’
Noa Cohen in the Netflix film “Mary.” Photo: Christopher Raphael/Netflix
Israeli actress Noa Cohen defended the decision to cast her as Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, in a new Netflix movie and also admitted she was not surprised about the social media uproar regarding the casting.
“I expected it but you know what, I feel like DJ [Caruso, the director], our producer, and the rest of the team did the best they could to stay as authentic as possible and they just wanted to find the right person and the right cast for the job,” Cohen told the Associated Press on Tuesday. “And I am a Jewish woman, who’s playing a Jewish woman. I grew up in Israel, which is modern day Judea, which is where Mary grew up. So I feel very, very comfortable portraying her and I did that from a place of true sincerity in my heart.”
“People don’t have to like it, but I like this role very much and I’m very, very proud of it,” she concluded.
Netflix released the official trailer for “Mary” in November and began streaming the film on Dec. 6. The coming-of-age drama, which additionally stars two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins as King Herod, tells the story of the birth of Christ. Besides Cohen, “Mary” also stars four other Israeli actors — Ido Tako, who plays Cohen’s husband Joseph; Ori Pfeffer; Hilla Vidor; and Mili Avital. The film was shot in Morocco and American Pastor Joel Osteen served as an executive producer on the film. Netflix said filmmakers “consulted with a wide range of religious scholars and leaders to capture the story’s historical elements.”
After the trailer for “Mary” premiered, pro-Palestinian activists on social media quickly lambasted the filmmakers and called for a boycott of the film because an Israeli Jewish actress was cast to play the lead role. They falsely claimed that Mary and Joseph were Palestinian, and that Jesus was also Palestinian or “a Palestinian Jew.” The Palestinian media outlet Quds Media Network also related the film to the “ongoing genocide of Christians in Palestine.”
Cohen shared in an interview on Tuesday night that she received multiple death threats while filming the Netflix project in Morocco last year.
“I got messages from Moroccan profiles [on social media] who said they know ‘what hotel you’re staying at,’” she told the Keshet 12 Israeli television program “Good Evening With Guy Pines,” according to The Jerusalem Post. “That didn’t make me feel the safest in the world. And you go to film in what is, after all, a Muslim country, Morocco … and you need a special visa to get in, and you have to have heavy security guarding you at all times.”
“It was scary. Some people began to understand that I was in Morocco and I got messages on Instagram, I got threats, the feeling wasn’t always the most comfortable,” Cohen added. She also said that once the trailer was released, “it was amazing to see how the responses started with ‘Zionist,’ then went to ‘Israeli,’ and finally ended up with straight-up ‘Jew … you Jewish whore’ — excuse the language. It was amazing to see how much of it was pure antisemitism and not anything else.”
Caruso previously praised Cohen’s performance in the film, saying that she “navigates the complexities of Mary’s journey so extraordinarily that every time I watch the film, she blows me away.”
“She beautifully captures Mary’s innocence, pain, joy, grace, and fierce perseverance in a captivating way,” he added.
The post Israeli Actress Noa Cohen Responds to Backlash About Her Playing Jesus’s Mother in Netflix Film ‘Mary’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.