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Thousands protest against Israeli siege of Gaza near Venice Film Festival

Demonstrators said the film industry should use its public platform at Venice to focus attention on the war in Gaza

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Demonstrators hold placards that read “On the red carpet lets sow peace” and “Free Palestine, peace has no borders” during a march in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, during the Venice Film Festival in Italy on Saturday. Photo: Invision/AP
Agence France-Presse

Thousands of people protested on Saturday against Israel’s siege of Gaza on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival, seeking to move the spotlight from movie drama to real-world trauma.

Organised by left-wing political groups in northeast Italy, the demonstration began in the early evening a few kilometres from the festival where top Hollywood talent from George Clooney and Julia Roberts to Emma Stone have walked the red carpet in recent days.

The protesters, whose numbers Agence France-Presse reporters estimated to be about three to four thousand, marched slowly to the entrance of the festival in the beachfront Lido district, waving Palestinian flags, as the Hollywood blockbuster Frankenstein was set to have its world premiere nearby.

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“You are all an audience to genocide” read one sign.

Protesters said the film industry should use its public platform at Venice – the world’s oldest film festival – to focus attention on Gaza.
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“The entertainment industry has the advantage of being followed a lot, and so they should take a position on Gaza,” Marco Ciotola, a 31-year-old computer scientist from Venice, said at the rally.

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