British-Palestinian Oscar-nominated filmmaker Farah Nabulsi penned an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, weighing in on the toll the Israel-Palestine conflict has taken on the Palestinian creative community, as well as the handful of US celebrities who have spoken out.
“Amidst the grief for those killed in Gaza, and the rage at the Israeli bombardment of a blocked territory with strikes that devastate tower blocks and wipe out families, there is an outpouring of support for our rights and our plight the likes of which has never been seen before,” she wrote.
"The world is seeing, more directly & vividly than ever before, what it is like to be Palestinian: to yearn to live freely w/ dignity & w/out oppression or discrimination in your own homeland. This is thus a moment of anger but also of hope" https://t.co/dgCupviwte
— Farah Nabulsi (@farah_nabulsi) May 21, 2021
The filmmaker behind BAFTA-winning “Th Present” added that in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the West Bank, "Palestinians under Israeli military occupation have been subjected to intense levels of dehumanization and violence.”
In the op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter, Nabulsi went on to detail some instances of the Palestinian creative community being harmed, including actor Maisa Abd Elhadi, a star of UK Channel 4’s “Baghdad Central,” who was reportedly shot and wounded by Israeli forces during a recent demonstration in Haifa.
“Palestinian filmmakers, actors, and artists, already hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, are now impacted by the Israeli government’s assaults on all fronts,” she added.
i would highly recommend farah nabulsi’s the present, she did an amazing job portraying the segregation of the occupation’s borders and checkpoints. it’s only 25 minutes. oscar nominated as well :) https://t.co/h5ZO1fqK2a
— ?? (@abitallie) May 22, 2021
Nabulsi also praised the small batch of Hollywood celebrities who have spoken about the conflict.
“Actors such as Susan Sarandon, Viola Davis, Mark Ruffalo, Idris Elba, Natalie Portman, Lena Headey, and Danny Glover have expressed their public support for Palestinians — whether it’s for those Palestinians struggling to keep their homes in Jerusalem or the plight of Gaza under Israeli bombs… Such statements and their amplification of pro-justice voices are both indicative of, and in turn help expand and deepen, a seismic shift of perceptions about Israel and the Palestinians.”
“We are witnessing a narrative being transformed, and it cannot come a moment too soon.”
This article has been adapted from its original source.
