500 cultural figures call for a “silent march” on Sunday in Paris – Libération

2023-11-13 19:42:00

The war between Hamas and IsraeldossierActors including Isabelle Adjani, Sami Bouajila and Claude Lelouch or writers like Leïla Slimani are calling for a silent march this Sunday, November 19, without political demands or slogans.

This time, it is not the presidents of the two chambers but more than 500 cultural figures who are calling for a march. A gathering which aims to be “silent, united, humanist and peaceful”, Sunday November 19 in Paris. It “will open with a single long white banner. No political demands, no slogans. White flags, white handkerchiefs are welcome,” writes in a press release a collective called “Another voice”, chaired by actress Lubna Azabal. Everyone wants the “fratricidal war” between Palestinians and Israelis to “end immediately”.

The route of the procession is intended to be very symbolic: it must leave the Institute of the Arab World, reach the Museum of Art and History of Judaism and finally reach the Place des Arts et Métiers. “The words “choice” and “clan” are imposed on us,” regrets the collective. “To this injunction to choose a side to hate, it is urgent to make another voice heard: that of union,” it is still written. The voice of union is the multiple, polyphonic, living voice, it is proof of the powerful bond that exists in France between Jewish, Muslim, Christian, atheist and agnostic citizens.

In addition to Isabelle Adjani, Sami Bouajila and Claude Lelouch, the signatories include actors such as Pierre Richard, Elsa Zylberstein and Laure Calamy, writers including Leïla Slimani and Philippe Geluck and the singer Michel Jonasz. “Since October 7, 2023, horror and suffering have been tearing Palestinians and Israelis apart according to a monstrous mathematics that has already lasted for a long time. This fratricidal war affects us all, and whatever our reasons or affinities on either side of the wall, we hope that it will stop immediately and that the two peoples can finally live in peace,” they say.

This call comes the day after demonstrations bringing together more than 180,000 people across France to reject anti-Semitism in the face of the explosion in the number of hostile acts against people of the Jewish faith since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel.