Roger Waters and Annie Ernaux call on the Venice Film Festival to act against the "Palestinian genocide"

English musician and former Pink Floyd star Roger Waters, French Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, and Australian Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce are among more than 200 Italian and international artists and creators who have signed a letter to the Venice Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, calling on these cultural events to take "concrete steps" against what they describe as a "genocide" being committed by Israel against the Palestinians.

The appeal, titled "Venice4Palestine," follows a similar letter sent to the Venice Film Festival a year ago. Among other things, the new letter states:

"A new normality has taken hold, partly thanks to the false ceasefire. Not only has Israel not stopped, it has continued its atrocities and expanded its fighting to the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. For the Palestinian people, nothing has changed, and tears are not enough to cleanse us of guilt: they are, in fact, evidence that we are unable to sufficiently harness our collective power to act."

The appeal from the artists and creators also calls on the Venice Film Festival to "fly the Palestinian flag throughout the festival, alongside all the other flags representing the films included in the official selection, in accordance with established practice."

Other signatories to the letter include directors Isabel Coixet and Céline Sciamma, director Matteo Garrone, Palestinian directors Tarzan and Arab Nasser, and Israeli documentary filmmaker working in France, Eyal Sivan.

Representatives of "Venice4Palestine" will participate in a panel to be held in Venice on September 8, titled "And yet Gaza continues to burn."