Javier Bardem on Gaza: “We cannot remain indifferent” to the call for the release of hostages and a ceasefire

Javier Bardem was no longer comfortable remaining silent on Gaza.

The Spanish actor spoke about Israel-Hamas conflict after accepting an award at the San Sebastian Film Festival last week. In his nuanced remarks, Bardem condemned the Hamas attacks as well as the “massive punishment suffered by the Palestinian population.”

He called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of Hamas hostages and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders – some of whom are now dead – who ordered the October 7 attacks be judged by the International Criminal Court.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bardem explained why he chose to speak out.

“I believe we can and must help bring peace. If we take a different approach, we will get different results,” Bardem told the AP, speaking before The Iranian attack on Israel Tuesday. “The security and prosperity of Israel and the health and future of a free Palestine will only be possible through a culture of peace, coexistence and respect. »

The Israeli offensive has already killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced and much of the impoverished territory has been destroyed. Palestinian militants are still holding some 110 hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war, in which they killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Around a third of the 110 are already dead, according to Israeli authorities.

The war has sparked sharp divisions in Hollywood over the past year, where public support for Israel or Palestine has provoked backlash and bullying, with accusations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and has cost jobs for people. Even silence had its consequences. The #blockout2024 movement celebrities under pressure who had said nothing – or enough – to take a stand.

“Why now?” Bardem said. “Because continuing to block negotiations and returning to the previous status quo, as they say, or as we are currently seeing, embarking on a race for new violations of international law would amount to perpetuating the war and, ultimately, to us lead to the precipice. »

Bardem stressed that while anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are real and serious problems in the United States, Europe and beyond, these terms are used to distract from the “legitimate right to criticize government actions Israeli and Hamas.

“We are witnessing crimes against human rights, crimes under international law, such as the banning of food, water, medicine, electricity, the use, like says UNICEF, to the war on children and the trauma that has been creating for generations,” Bardem said. “We cannot remain indifferent to this. »

The Oscar-winning actor, who was born in the Canary Islands and raised Catholic but no longer practices, has previously spoken out on global issues, signing an open letter calling for peace during a 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas, and a few years earlier by speaking out. to a United Nations committee on refugees in Western Sahara, about which he narrated a documentary. It is also a environmental defenderand spoke at the UN in 2019 about protecting the oceans.

“My mother made me aware of the importance of treating all human beings equally, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, religion, nationality, socio-economic status, abilities or sexuality,” Bardem said. “Actions inform us and that alone interests me in people. This is why I have always been concerned about any form of discrimination. This includes anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Bardem is married to Penélope Cruz, with whom he shares two children.

He said that beyond the fear that the framework of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was in danger, he saw up close the effects of the conflict and the promise of a different approach. Two of his close friends, an Israeli and a Palestinian, both lost their daughters to violence years ago and bonded over their shared pain and desire to help create positive change.

These fathers, Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, are members of a non-profit organization called The Parents’ Circle Family Forum which emphasizes reconciliation. They wrote a letter that Bardem shared: “What happened to us is like nuclear energy. You can use it for more destruction. Or you can use it to provide light. Losing your daughter is painful in both situations. But we love our life. We want to exist. So we use this pain to support change. Build bridges, not dig graves.

Bardem added: “This is what it should be about: building bridges, not digging graves. This is why it is urgent and important.

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For the latest updates on the war between Israel and Hamas, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war