Protesters storm theater before Israeli film shown at Toronto film festival

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Tuesday burst onto the stage at a Toronto theater before the screening of the Israeli film “Hemda” (Bliss), accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide against the Palestinians.

A group of activists claiming to be a coalition of Jewish filmmakers and artists came into the auditorium holding banners reading, “This film is funded by a state committing genocide of Palestinians,” and “Jews say no to genocide.”

Protesters chanted “Free Palestine,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as attendees of the Toronto International Film Festival event urged their removal and chanted “Bring them home” in reference to the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7.

“There will be no platform for the Israeli state committing genocide against Palestinians,” one of the protesters said on stage, as the crowd jeered in response. She denounced the “normalization” of Israel and shamed the crowd for attending the screening.

Outside the theater, dozens of activists wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestinian flags also held a demonstration, repeating cries of “shame.” One of the activists spoke against the film, which she claimed was funded by a “genocidal state.”

Shemi Zarhin, the film’s director, told Channel 12 news that eventually “the wretched horror show finished and the movie started and went on calmly and beautifully.”

מפגינות פרו-פלסטיניות התפרצו לבמה בהקרנת הסרט הישראלי "חמדה" בפסטיבל טורונטוhttps://t.co/dsl4fZ4Gnp | @zionnenko @Noam92Cohen

באדיבות יונייטד קינג pic.twitter.com/qKfYXgnw2m

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 11, 2024

He described having to enter the theater through the back entrance to avoid protesters out front, and that he sat with actor Sasson Gabai with guards outside the auditorium during the film.

“We didn’t see the protest going on outside, but we heard it. It was very vocal. The festival manager himself came to thank us for our courage,” he said, adding that he was very moved when the crowd responded to protesters with chants of “Bring them home.”

Short speech on why this protest before the screening of an Israeli government-funded film is happening. Namely, rejecting cultural normalization of Israel and its occupation. Two police and lots of security on site. pic.twitter.com/ASOFtF7wup

— Dave Gray-Donald (@dgrdon) September 11, 2024

After the protesters were removed from the hall, he said that those outside were also removed at the beginning of the screening.

“The crowd responded amazingly. The participation of the film in the festival became one of the day’s conversations,” he added.

In “Hemda,” married couple Effi and Sassi are tested by one of their son’s gambling debts, and the appearance of two young men in their lives.

Last week, anti-Israel protesters also disrupted the opening night screening at the TIFF, chanting “Stop the genocide!” during opening remarks.

The ongoing war in Gaza erupted on October 7 with Hamas’s brutal massacre in southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

In response, Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza with the proclaimed objectives of dismantling Hamas and getting the hostages back.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Israel has rejected accusations of genocide, stating it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 344.