No one at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid had heard the name of Abdullah Mohammed Riyad until this morning. They knew only as a number within a total: 18,500. The number of children killed in Gaza. His name has been heard with Abdullah Alsayed Kul, Hamed Suleiman Mustafa Abu Khati, Mohameed Amer Yasser Al-Masri and Joud Mohammed Nour Hassenein. It was the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, who put voice to the first five names of a list that will be read for more than 300 personalities of the cultural field until 10 p.m. on Monday. In the act – convened by the artists with Palestine – figures such as Pedro Almodóvar, Silvia Abascal, Carlos Bardem or Miguel Ríos participate.
The concentration began at noon – arphed by more than a dozen NGO – with only one intention: “that the list of shame does not grow more.” This was said by the spokeswoman for artists with Palestine to this medium. And he has emphasized that the list with 18,500 names and surnames is limited to the deaths of minors registered until last July. According to the data released Monday by the Ministry of Health of Gaza, which is part of the Hamas government, 64,229 Gazatis have been killed in the conflict. 30.2 % (19,423) were under 18 and 1,009 had less than a year.
The filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar considers that “protesting and preventing everything that is named after Netanyahu Prospere is an act of civic consciousness.” Almodóvar has defended the “absolutely legitimate” protest that this Sunday prevented the last stage of the cycling return in the capital. “Looking at the images of yesterday you saw people of all kinds and condition. I think he is being very transversal,” he said. Almodóvar has participated in the protest reading the letter of a Gazati boy displaced from his house: “I dreamed of returning to Gaza and finding her as she was, but I found her destroyed. When we returned, I was in ruins and burned … my loved ones and my brothers died.”
Miguel Ríos, Jorge Sanz, Fernando León de Aranoa, Silvia Abascal, April Zamora, María Botto, Loles León or Luis Miguel Seguí have been some of the artists who have also read the names and surnames of Gazati children killed by Israel’s offensive since the attacks of October 7. More partners are expected to join throughout the afternoon.
The demonstration in the most central square in Madrid joins other international movements in the art world. More than 4,000 film artists – among actors, directors, producers and other figures – refuse to work with any Israeli company involved in the “genocide.” Their names appear in a statement of film World for Palestine. The list includes winners of Oscar, Bafta, Emmy, Cannes, Berlin, Goya or Venice awards, as well as artists recognized such as Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton or Javier Bardem. The latter appeared yesterday at the Emmy awards with a Palestinian handkerchief: “You have to report the urgent … Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” said Madrid actor to EFE during his passage through the red carpet.
The cultural field has intensified its support samples in recent weeks. The San Sebastián Festival has publicly sentenced what happens in the strip, while two beneficial concerts are prepared in London: Together for Palestineon September 17 at Wembley Aren Gig for Gazaon October 17, with the participation of Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Inhaler and Maverick, whose collection will be allocated to humanitarian organizations.