Mass protest against the war in Gaza arrives at the Venice Film Festival

Thousands of Pro-Palestinian activists marched at the Venice International Film Festival on Saturday in a strident but peaceful protest against the war in Gaza.

Gathering the docks on the other side of the lido, the protesters stirred Palestinian, Italian and rainbow flags along with a brilliant red union and socialist banners, their songs and slogans transported by the hip hop and the dance clues with political positions that explode from a truck that leads the march. The crowd, a mixture of young and old, students, unionists, activists and cultural figures, came from the entire region and all of Europe, with several trips from France, the United Kingdom and other places to march here today.

“You are all an audience for genocide,” reads a sign. Another: “Mothers of Gaza we are with you.” Songs of “Stop the genocide!” And “Free Palestine!” They were shouted by speakers in English, Italian, French and Arabic. The mood was celebrated, with the smoke of colored flares (green, yellow, red, which surrounded the protesters.

The protests organizers, who had mobilized groups throughout the Veneto region and beyond, demanded that Venice take a clear position against Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip and provide more space for the Palestinian voices.

The crowd continued slowly through the main street of the island to the Cinema Palazzo del Cinema, subsuming small groups of festival attendees with accreditation and laces badges in a sea of ​​banners and pins in watermelon, a symbol of Palestine solidarity.

The march reached about 1,000 feet from the Festival’s red carpet, where Guillermo del Toro FrankensteinStarring Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth and Oscar Isaac, she premiered. But the Italian police, backed by two trucks and around a dozen officers with riot team, blocked the procession on the outskirts of Quattro Fontane. Police did not make any movement to disperse the crowd, which remained peaceful and celebration.

Festival fans gathered to see the stars on the red carpet were too far to listen to the songs of the protesters. Unlike recent years, where activists managed to approach the carpet itself, the authorities maintained Saturday’s protest back from the main area of ​​the festival.

The demonstration interrupted bus services and film boards in nearby hotels, but otherwise it was developed without incident.

The call comes days before the world premiere of The voice of Hind RajabKaouther Ben Hania competition on the six -year -old Palestinian girl killed during Israeli military action in Gaza.

Gaza’s War has thrown a shadow on this year’s festival. Earlier this week, more than 600 artists and filmmakers signed an open letter under the banner of Venice4 Palestine, urging the biennial to condemn what they called “Gazo genocide” and to ensure that the Palestinian stories are represented in the Lido. A similar protest broke out during the festival last year, when activists who carry Palestinian flags crossed police barriers and organized a sitting on the red carpet just before Pablo Larraín’s premiere Maria.

This year, protesters may not have reached the carpet, but their message, taken through the Lido by song, singing and banner, was impossible to ignore.

Penelope Roxborough contributed to this report.