French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa protests at Cannes Film Festival Israel’s Gaza Massacre

BY ANDREW WHALEN

French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa used the international premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story at the Cannes Film Festival to protest Israeli snipers killing more than 100 Palestinian protesters and wounding 12,000 more over the course of six weeks of protests.

Solo: A Star Wars Story screened Tuesday, with director Ron Howard and cast members Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Joonas Suotamo (who has replaced Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca) appearing on the red carpet.

As she walks the red carpet for “Solo”, French-Lebanese #actress Manal Issa holds a sign reading “Stop the Attack on #Gaza” as she walks the famous red carpet, in #Cannes, during 71st edition of the Cannes #Film#Festival in Cannes. #France#Palestine#Cannes2018#Film#cinemapic.twitter.com/3PAMRWCZcg

— Ammar ABD RABBO (@AmmarParis) May 16, 2018

Issa’s red carpet protest—a sign reading “Stop the attack on Gaza”—followed the massacre of 60 unarmed protesters on Monday, with the Israel Defense Forces citing rocks, “arson kites,” wire cutters and burning tires, lit to impede sniper fire. The IDF described “children” and “disabled civilians” as “Hamas’s tools for infiltrating Israel,” demonstrating “Hamas can turn anything into a weapon of terror.” Israeli army claims of protesters planting grenades and improvised explosives along the Gaza fence have not been verified.