More actors, filmmakers join petition accusing Israel of ‘genocide’
Catherine Deneuve, Julian Assange among latest of 900 signatories to letter sparked by IDF killing of Gazan photojournalist featured at Cannes; IDF said it targeted Hamas operative
Iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve has joined over 900 cinema figures who’ve signed an open letter denouncing alleged “genocide” in Gaza and the movie industry’s failure to speak up about it, organizers told AFP on Friday.
The petition began circulating during the buildup to the Cannes Film Festival and had garnered around 380 names, including “Schindler’s List” star Ralph Fiennes, when the event kicked off on May 13.
An update issued by organizers Friday included more than 900 names, including Deneuve, British director Danny Boyle, and Swedish actor Gustaf Skarsgard.
The initiative, called “Artists for Fatem,” was sparked by the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Fatima (Fatem) Hassouna, who was the subject of a documentary that premiered at Cannes week.
Hassouna, 25, was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with 10 relatives in her family home in northern Gaza last month, the day after the documentary was announced as part of the Cannes selection. The IDF said the strike had targeted a Hamas operative involved in attacks on soldiers and civilians, and that precautions were taken beforehand to minimize harm to civilians.
The letter sparked by Hassouna’s killing says that “as artists and cultural players, we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza and this unspeakable news is hitting our communities hard.” Israel, which has been accused by South Africa of genocide in the International Court of Justice, has angrily rejected the charge.
Fatima Hassouna, a renowned Palestinian artist and photojournalist, has been killed by an Israeli air strike.
She died with nine members of her family in a direct strike on their home in Gaza.
Hassouna appears in Sepideh Farsi’s documentary ‘PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND… pic.twitter.com/mftVRQJ7U8
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) April 20, 2025
Other signatories include Juliette Binoche, who is chairing the jury at Cannes, Rooney Mara, Jonathan Glazer, US indie director Jim Jarmusch, “Lupin” star Omar Sy, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Pedro Almodovar and Mark Ruffalo.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is in Cannes to promote a documentary about his life, has also signed the letter, organizers said Friday. He posed for photographers on Tuesday with a T-shirt bearing the names of killed Gaza children.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry on Thursday published a list of 16,503 under-18s it said had been killed by Israel throughout the war, out of a total death toll of over 53,000 people.
The Hamas figures cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians (Hamas fighters include older teens). Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January, and another 1,600 terrorists during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.