Wallace Shawn, Cynthia Nixon lead actors backing genocide charges against Israel
Entertainment
Susan Sarandon, other celebs support South Africa’s genocide charges against Israel
(Web Desk) - Alia Shawkat, Wallace Shawn, Tobias Menzies and Liam Cunningham are among the actors participating in a video series from the Palestine Festival of Literature.
The Palestine Festival of Literature’s video was the first in a series made as a show of support for South Africa’s proceedings against Israel.
Alongside the video, the organization said that “every state has a legal duty to support South Africa’s case” and urged people to pressure their countries to show their support.
The Palestine Festival of Literature is a cultural initiative that describes itself as being “committed to the creation of language and ideas for combating colonialism in the 21st Century.”
The festival takes place annually in cities across Israel and the West Bank like Jerusalem, Haifa, Ramallah and Nablus. Partners of the initiative include Palestinian universities and cultural organizations.
Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon, Lena Headey and over two dozen other prominent actors have contributed to a series of videos in support of South Africa's case charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Published by the Palestine Festival of Literature, the video series features stars including The Crown's Khalid Abdalla and Tobias Menzies, Game of Thrones' Charles Dance, Carice van Houten, Liam Cunningham and Stephen Dillane, Pose's Indya Moore and The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector reading from South Africa's 84-page case file.
Alia Shawkat, Wallace Shawn, Harriet Walter, Paapa Essiedu, Steve Coogan, Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Tunde Adebimpe, Kathleen Chalfant, Adam Bakri, Inua Ellams, Aida El-Kashef, Sepideh Moafi, Maaza Mengiste, Zukiswa Wanner, Maisie Richardson Sellers and Dario Ladani Sanchez also appear in the videos.
South African lawyers presented their case to the International Court of Justice on Thursday, arguing that Israel's assault on Gaza in its ongoing war against Hamas violates the U.N.'s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Israel has fiercely defended itself against the charges, saying that Hamas initiated the conflict, which has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis.
While the legal proceedings could take years to play out, South Africa is seeking an emergency injunction from the court asking Israel to halt its military campaign in Gaza.
