Pro-Gaza demonstrators disrupt filming of new Gal Gadot film in protest of Israeli actress as Met arrests five
Gadot is understood to be filming an action thriller called The Runner
AND ACTION! Pro-Gaza demonstrators disrupt filming of new Gal Gadot film in protest of Israeli actress as Met arrests five
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
FIVE protesters have been arrested after they allegedly targeted the filming of Gal Gadot's new movie.
The demonstrators disrupted production at several locations across London in recent weeks, the Metropolitan Police said.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
Five protesters have been arrested after they allegedly targeted the filming of Gal Gadot's new movie
Credit: Getty
The force said the protestors targeted sets "solely because an actress involved in the production is Israeli".
Gadot, 40, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, previously showed support for Israel's invasion of Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi) has since argued people who support their group should boycott Gadot films.
Gadot is understood to currently be filming an action thriller called The Runner in the capital.
Police were called to a set location in Westminster on Wednesday.
Officers detained five people on suspicion of harassment and offences under Section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.
Two of the arrests were in relation to previous protests, while three were in response to incidents that unfolded on Wednesday.
All five remain in custody.
Supt Neil Holyoak said: "While we absolutely acknowledge the importance of peaceful protest, we have a duty to intervene where it crosses the line into serious disruption or criminality.
"We have been in discussions with the production company to understand the impact of the protests on their work and on any individuals involved.
"I hope today's operation shows we will not tolerate the harassment of or unlawful interference with those trying to go about their legitimate professional work in London."
The Runner, produced by David Kosse, stars Gadot as a lawyer on a mission to rescue her kidnapped son.
Gadot has been pictured back on set this week, despite the protests.
Demonstrations also followed the actress to her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony after her role in the latest Snow White movie.
A Pro-Palestine group stood outside the ceremony carrying signs reading: "Viva Viva Palestina".
In a Variety interview earlier this week, Gadot said: "After October 7th [2023], I don't talk politics — because who cares about the celebrity talking about politics?
"I'm an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world.
"But on October 7th, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent.
"I'm not a hater. I'm a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel and established his family from scratch after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz.
"And on the other side of my family, I'm eighth generation Israeli. I'm an indigenous person of Israel.
"I am all about humanity and I felt like I had to advocate for the hostages. I am praying for better days for all.
"I want everybody to have good life and prosperity, and the ability to raise their children in a safe environment."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Israel accused of firing on crowds approaching aid hubs
The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has denied claims that scores of Palestinians were killed on their way to collect aid on Sunday. GHF, in charge of distributing aid in the Strip, said that 'our aid was again distributed today without incident' adding that it was 'aware of rumours being actively fomented by Hamas suggesting deaths and injuries'. Officials at a Red Cross field hospital in Gaza said 21 Palestinians were killed, with witnesses claiming the IDF fired from tanks at civilians about a kilometre from a distribution site. Medics and witnesses said that Palestinian crowds headed to Israeli-guarded buffer zones around the Rafah and Netzarim distribution stations were fired on by tanks or drones, according to Bloomberg News. Some Palestinians blamed a lack of clarity about when and how to safely approach the GHF sites from active combat zones. The IDF said it was reviewing the incident, saying it was 'unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the humanitarian aid distribution site'. Hamas has called on civilians in Gaza not to collect aid from the new distribution sites, which are run by GHF and private American contractors. Critics say the aid centres are also being used to screen Palestinians and collect facial recognition data. The terror group also announced last week that it executed four people accused of looting aid. On Saturday, the World Food Programme said that 77 trucks with humanitarian aid 'were stopped along the way, with food taken mainly by hungry people trying to feed their families '. The GHF, registered in Switzerland, was established with Israeli backing to find a way to distribute aid that couldn't be taken by Hamas. Israel says it is essential to prevent the terror group from hoarding or reselling the aid. The non-profit organisation, which began distribution last week, got off to a rocky start amid delays and scenes of chaos as Palestinians crowded aid stations. Leading humanitarian aid groups, including the UN, have refused to work with the GHF to distribute aid, claiming the US-backed NGO lacks neutrality and doesn't live up to their standards. While some Palestinians expressed concern over biometric and other checks Israel said it would employ, Israeli officials said it will allow screening of recipients to exclude anyone found to be connected with Hamas. Israeli media shared CCTV footage from the GHF's distribution site in Rafah at the alleged time of the shootings. No shooting is seen on the footage where hundreds of Palestinians are gathered to collect aid. The incident did, however, allegedly take place about a kilometre from the site. Meanwhile, the GHF said that over 4.7 million meals were distributed to Palestinians over the past week, including 887,000 on Sunday morning. Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said on Saturday that 579 trucks carrying humanitarian aid – including flour, food, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical drugs – entered Gaza over the past week. The UN accused Israel of failing to provide safe routes for them in order to pick up and distribute aid. 'We and our partners could collect just over 200 of them, limited by insecurity and restricted access,' said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general. 'If we're not able to pick up those goods, I can tell you one thing, it is not for lack of trying.' Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said that his country had provided 'safe routes' for the distribution and that more than 400 trucks with aid were waiting to be picked up by the UN on the Gazan side of the border. 'But the UN did not show up. Put your ego aside, pick up the aid and do your job,' Mr Danon said.
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Seven dead as two bridges in Russia collapse after explosions
In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties. Hours later, officials said a second train was derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails on to the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said. Russia's investigative committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. Photos posted by government agencies from the scene in the Bryansk region appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media were apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road, which had managed to avoid driving on to the bridge before it collapsed. In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure. The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified. In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses. The statement said Moscow's key 'artery' with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed. Russian forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's invasion in February 2022. They took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Can Nigel Farage really boost Britain's birth rate?
As Sir Keir Starmer continued to drag his feet over one of the most contentious policy issues among Labour MPs and voters, Nigel Farage spotted an opportunity. Proclaiming during a speech last week that Britain had 'lost our sense of focus of just how important family is', the Reform UK leader unveiled plans to lure frustrated Labour voters while also attempting to arrest a decline in the UK's birth rate. Farage pledged that an elected Reform would scrap the two-child benefit cap and introduce a transferable tax allowance for married couples, in a bid to encourage people to have children. 'This is part of a bigger package and policy that we are putting together to try and make the family a more important element in British life,' said Farage. It marks the party's move into pro-natalist policies. Reform's proposed transferable tax allowance for married couples takes inspiration from central Europe. During his time in office Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, has placed significant focus on the importance of birth rates and traditional families. Earlier this week, Farage said he was 'not moralising' on the significance of marriage and added that having been divorced twice his 'track record was not so good on this'. Reform's policy would exempt one partner in a marriage from paying tax on the first £25,000 of their salary. Ben Ramanauskas, a senior fellow in economics at the Policy Exchange, says the proposal would bring the UK 'into a territory where most European countries are'. He adds: 'They have a much more generous system when it comes to taxing households and families.' However, Ramanauskas cast doubt on the idea that the measure could encourage couples to have children: 'The proposal itself won't have much of an impact on what Farage is aiming for in terms of hoping to increase the birth rate.' Reform's plans also miss out a key group of would-be parents. More than half of children in the UK are born to couples out of wedlock. So with the transferable tax allowance only reserved for married couples, the baby boosting effect of the policy is unclear. The party has also said it would scrap the two child benefit cap, a pledge which is estimated to cost £3.4bn, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Tomáš Sobotka, deputy director at the Vienna Institute of Demography, says abolishing the cap would help to lift children out of poverty but its impact on Britain's birth rate is likely to be 'marginal'. 'Most parents today don't desire more than two kids so it's a select group of women and families who are having a third or a fourth child,' he says. 'Providing a bit more in services … will not change fertility planning among many couples.' In Hungary, Orbán's attempts to fix the country's birth crisis mean it spends around 5pc of its GDP on measures aimed at encouraging couples to have children. The most significant of these measures is the country's large tax breaks. Currently mothers under 30 pay no income tax and mothers with three or more children are exempt from paying income tax for life. Orbán has also pledged to extend the measure to mothers of two children by January 2026. The government also offers loans to newly-weds that can be partially or fully written off if the couple has two or three children – as well as subsidies for family car purchases and housing. Despite Orbán's significant spending and hopes of a baby boom, Hungary's birth rate stood at 1.52 children per woman in 2022, in the UK it was 1.53 children per woman in 2021. For context, a country needs a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to ensure it has a stable population, without immigration. 'In the last few years Hungary has experienced fertility declines to the same extent as other countries and it now has exactly the same fertility rate as the European average ... from that perspective Hungarian policies are not bringing in tremendous success,' says Sobotka. But Orbán's focus on large families is helping to deliver an uptick in the number of households with three or more children, Sobotka adds. In the Nordics, the picture isn't any clearer. Finland pioneered the introduction of family friendly policies including parental leave and childcare from the 1980s onwards. The country reported a rise in its birth rates in the 1990s despite going through a financial crisis. 'Introducing these kinds of policies if they are long term … longer parental leave and especially affordable childcare have been shown in a wealth of studies both in the Nordic countries and from other countries to be associated with somewhat higher fertility,' says Anna Rotkirch, of the Family Federation of Finland's Population Research Institute. 'No silver bullet policy' However, she warns these measures 'are not enough for today's situation,' and that 'there's no silver bullet policy.' Indeed, the initial boost to Finland's birth rate in the late 20th century has waned and since 2010 the country has seen its birth rate decline by a third. Yet, Rotkirch says that while government spending and Reform's proposed policies might not have much of a demographic impact they were an important element in reducing child poverty. 'The cost of parenting is real and it is also economic,' she adds. 'Why do we have a society where you get poorer if you have a child?' Over in South Korea the picture is even more challenging. In May 2024, the then-president Yoon Suk Yeol asked for the parliament's cooperation to establish the Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counter-planning. 'We will mobilise all of the nation's capabilities to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency,' he said. The country has gone through a raft of measures including baby bonuses, subsidised fertility treatments and housing assistance but the country's fertility rate stood at 0.78 children per woman in 2024. Melinda Mills, a professor of demography at Oxford University say: 'They've also shown that throwing a lot of money at it doesn't work so you have to get to the root of people's lives. What are their work hours? Where do they live and work? Where's childcare?' One nation that has a slight edge in the birth rate compared to its European neighbours is France. Mills added that France's more comprehensive package of subsidised childcare, parental leave and school support goes some way in encouraging couples to have children. Indeed the measures seem to be having a small effect on the country's fertility rate, which was 1.8 children per woman in 2021 compared to the EU average of 1.53 during the same year. 'It's harder work than throwing a baby bonus and trying to think you could do a silver bullet but actually creating an ecosystem that has childcare, that has good maternity and paternity leave, has a good work-life balance – that's where France has done very well,' says Mills. However, it's clear that there is no one pro-natalist policy which will act as a catalyst to boost birth rates. While Farage's proposed Hungarian-style tax breaks look unlikely to persuade couples to have children, Mills explained that measures which addressed quality of life were likely to be more impactful. 'People need a good life, they need good jobs, be able to get a house, childcare,' says Mills. 'It's about wellbeing, it's about work-life balance. That's not as sexy … but these are the things that have been shown to be more effective.'
