“Some people told me, maybe you have to be careful before you say what I want to say now, because you are a refugee in Germany, and there are so many red lines. But I don’t care. I care about my people, about Palestine,” he said. “So, I will say my final word to the German government. You are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this truth, but you choose to not care.” The filmmaker also held a Palestinian flag on stage and ended his speech with a call for a “free Palestine from now to the end of the world.”
“We will remember everyone who stood with us, and we will remember everyone who stood against us,” Al-Khatib added. He also claimed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living under “siege” and “occupation.”
Other Berlinale award winners also used their acceptance speeches to express solidarity with Palestinians or criticize Israel’s military actions in Gaza, during the country’s war against Hamas terrorists who orchestrated the deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
While accepting the Golden Bear for best short film for “Someday a Child,” Lebanese filmmaker Marie-Rose Osta condemned Israeli bombings in Gaza and Lebanon, and what she called a “collapse of international law,” while also accusing the Israeli government of “genocide.”
“The people of Palestine, you are not alone,” said Turkish filmmaker Emin Alper, whose film “Salvation” won the Grand Jury Prize. “The people of Iran suffering under tyranny, you are not alone, the people of Kurdistan [you] are not alone. And my people, you are not alone,” he added.
Indian author Arundhati Roy pulled out of the Berlinale this year after jury president Wim Wenders said during the opening press conference that filmmakers should stay out of politics.
Earlier this month, more than 100 artists in the film industry – including Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo, and Tilda Swinton – signed an open letter criticizing the Berlinale for its “silence” about the situation in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war and accused Israel of “ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
“We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” the letter stated.
