American Actress Condemns Gaza Slaughter as Genocide, Slams US Silence
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – American actress Jennifer Lawrence denounced Israel’s assault on Gaza as “no less than a genocide,” warning that the mass killing of civilians is being normalized through political lies and censorship in the United States.
Speaking at a press conference for her new film Die, My Love at the San Sebastián film festival, she responded to questions about Gaza despite attempts by a moderator to shut down discussion.
“I’m terrified. It’s mortifying. What’s happening is no less than a genocide and it’s terrible,” Lawrence said when asked about the destruction of Gaza.
The Israeli war machine has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians and wounded over 160,000 since October 2023. Independent monitors, including Acled, estimate that nearly all of those killed have been civilians. Internal data from Israel’s own occupation army, revealed by the Guardian, put the civilian death toll at 83% in the first seven months of the war.
“What makes me so sad is the disrespect in the discourse of American politics right now and how that is going to be normalized to the kids,” Lawrence added. “It’s going to be normal to them that politicians lie.”
Her remarks came as more than 400 figures in the entertainment industry signed a boycott pledge against Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” The initiative, modeled on the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa, targets festivals such as Jerusalem al-Quds, Haifa, Docaviv and TLVFest. Signatories include Mark Ruffalo, Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman, Ava DuVernay, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Yorgos Lanthimos.
Lawrence, not a signatory to either the boycott or the counter-letter signed by Liev Schreiber, Debra Messing and Mayim Bialik, urged festival attendees to stay focused on accountability: “Stay focused on who is responsible, not on actors and artists.”
She also condemned censorship in the US. “Our freedom of speech and expression is under attack,” she said. “Festivals like this remind us we are all connected and deserve empathy and freedom.”
Lawrence will receive the Donostia award at the San Sebastián festival before the screening of Die, My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay and co-starring Robert Pattinson, Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek and LaKeith Stanfield. The film is set for release on November 7.
