Oscar-winning US actress Jennifer Lawrence accused Israel of genocide in Gaza as she took questions from journalists Friday at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
“I’m terrified. It’s mortifying. What’s happening is no less than a genocide and it’s terrible,” said the star of “Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle” and “Joy,” when a reporter asked how worried she was for her children’s future given that “kids are dying” in Gaza, Ukraine and other countries.
Lawrence’s comments appeared to only address Israel’s war against Hamas. Israel rejects charges of genocide and says it takes steps to mitigate harm to civilians in the war sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.
In her response, Lawrence also called out what she described as lying and a lack of empathy in her own country’s politics.
“I’m terrified for my children, for all of our children,” she said, adding that “this disrespect and the discourse in American politics right now is going to be normal.”
For the younger generation, “it’s going to be totally normal to them that politics has no integrity,” she said. “Politicians lie, there’s no empathy, and everybody needs to remember that when you ignore what’s happening on one side of the world, it won’t be long until it’s on your side as well.”
“Our freedom of speech and expression is under attack, and I think the world of cinema and using your voice in artistic ways, having festivals like this where we can learn from each other and realize we are all connected and matter and deserve empathy and freedom, are important,” she said.
“I wish that there was something that I could say, something that I could do to fix this extremely complex and disgraceful situation… but the reality is our fear in speaking too much or answering too many of these questions is that my words will just be used to add more fire and rhetoric to something that is in the hands of our elected officials,” she said.
“I just want people to stay focused on who is responsible… and not let the actors and artists who are trying to express freedom of art, freedom of speech, take the heat.”
According to entertainment news outlet Deadline, the San Sebastian festival moderator initially tried to shut down political questions, but reporters were “resolute” in asking them of Lawrence, who was in the coastal Basque city to receive the Donostia lifetime achievement award and attend a screening of her latest film “Die, My Love.”
The film portrays how a couple’s happiness at having a child turns sour, following a series of works that provide a different perspective on motherhood. The film was directed by Lynne Ramsay and co-produced by Lawrence herself and Martin Scorsese.
Lawrence, a mother of two children, said the movie reminded her of her difficult postpartum period following the birth of her second child.
“It’s really bizarre, watching the movie now and seeing everything in retrospect, after feeling like I’ve been through that forest,” she said.