{"id":302624,"date":"2026-02-21T09:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/302624\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T09:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:42:16","slug":"director-of-the-voice-of-hind-rajab-rejects-berlin-award-over-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/302624\/","title":{"rendered":"Director of \u2018The Voice of Hind Rajab\u2019 rejects Berlin award over Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gaza Strip: Oscar-nominated Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has recently declined a major film award at an event in Berlin, after an Israeli general was recognised at the same event.<\/p>\n

Ben Hania refused to receive the \u201cMost Valuable Film\u201d honour at the Cinema for Peace gala, held on the sidelines of the Berlin International Film Festival, and left the trophy on stage. She said her decision was intended as a protest against what she described as political support for Israel\u2019s military actions.<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/p>\n

Arundhati Roy withdraws from Berlin Film Festival over jury remarks on Gaza<\/a> <\/p>\n

Addressing the audience, Ben Hania said the death of five-year-old Hind Rajab should not be viewed as an isolated case. \u201cWhat happened to Hind is not an exception. It is part of a genocide,\u201d she said, criticising those who frame large-scale civilian casualties as \u201cself-defence\u201d or \u201ccomplex circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Add<\/a> <\/p>\n

She said any discussion of peace must include justice and accountability. \u201cPeace is not a perfume sprayed over violence so power can feel refined and comfortable,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we speak about peace, we must speak about justice. Justice means accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the video here <\/p>\n

The filmmaker said the Israeli army killed Rajab, members of her family and two paramedics who attempted to rescue her, adding that the incident took place \u201cwith the complicity of the world\u2019s most powerful governments and institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ben Hania said she did not want her documentary, The Voice of Hind Rajab, to be used for what she described as \u201cimage-laundering\u201d. \u201cI refuse to let their deaths become a backdrop for a polite speech about peace,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen peace is pursued as a legal and moral obligation, rooted in accountability, then I will come back and accept it with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MS <\/a> <\/p>\n

She added that she felt \u201cresponsibility more than gratitude\u201d while speaking at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/p>\n

The Voice of Hind Rajab receives record 23-minute ovation at Venice premiere<\/a> <\/p>\n

Her remarks come after more than 80 film professionals, including actors Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Brian Cox, as well as directors Mike Leigh and Adam McKay, signed an open letter criticising the Berlin International Film Festival. The signatories accused the festival of failing to address alleged violations of international law in Gaza and pointed to what they described as a double standard in its response to global conflicts.<\/p>\n

The Voice of Hind Rajab recounts the final hours of the child, who was trapped in her family\u2019s car in Gaza City in January 2024 after it came under Israeli fire. The film draws on audio recordings of her final phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, in which she pleaded for help.<\/p>\n

The incident drew widespread international attention after reports that rescuers sent to reach her were also killed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gaza Strip: Oscar-nominated Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has recently declined a major film award at an event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,50,152439,85,46,44,3221],"class_list":["post-302624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gaza","tag-hind-rajab","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-the-voice-of-hind-rajab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}