Penelope Cruz is denouncing Israel’s incursion into Gaza.
The 40-year-old Oscar-winning actress is among dozens of Spanish film stars, directors, musicians and writers, including her husband Javier Bardem and director Pedro Almodovar who’ve published an open letter published on Tuesday, in which they described Israel’s actions as “genocide.”
The entertainment industry representatives also called on the European Union to “condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”
In the letter, they demanded a ceasefire by the Israeli military and urged Israel to “lift the blockade, which the Gaza Strip has suffered for more than a decade.”
The letter also said: “Gaza is living through horror these days, besieged and attacked by land, sea and air. Palestinians’ homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity [and] free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing.”
Others who signed the letter include directors Montxo Armendariz and Benito Zambrano, actors Lola Herrera, Eduardo Noriega and Rosa Maria Sarda, as well as musicians Amaral and Nacho Campillo.
The entertainers blamed the new round of violence in the Middle East on the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel, which, the letter said, “continues to advance into and invade the Palestinian territories instead of returning to the 1967 borders.” Almost 1,100 Palestinians and 56 Israelis have died since the Israeli military began its bombardments of Gaza three weeks ago, according to latest reports. Bardem, who won the Oscar for supporting actor in 2008 for his role in No Country for Old Men, is a known political activist who frequently expounds on controversial issues.
Cruz won an Oscar in the best supporting actress category in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2009.
The couple is good friends with Almodovar who has won two Oscars – one for best foreign language film for All About My Mother(2000) and one for best original screenplay for Talk To Her (2002).
