On the stage of the awards ceremony, the comedian highlighted what she considers to be unequal treatment between Israeli and Palestinian victims of the conflict in the Middle East.
It was one of the political moments of the 35th Molières ceremony, the Césars of theater, which took place on Monday May 6. On the stage of the Folies Bergères to present the Molière of comedy, Sophia Aram spoke of the devastating war which has pitted Israel against Hamas for 7 months.
The comedian denounced the “deafening silence” from the cultural sector towards the Israeli victims of October 7 and the Israeli hostages held since then in Gaza.
“We who share the freedom to shout on all the channels in France, or to shout our indignation about everything and anything in the stands (…), I think that we should also pay attention to our silences” , she said by way of introduction.
“In the hubbub of our easy indignation, the even relative silence after October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were massacred, is deafening. And if it is obvious that we all share here the calls for a ceasefire, how can to stand in solidarity with the thousands of civilians who died in Gaza without also being in solidarity with the Israeli victims?” she asked, triggering thunderous applause.
“It’s up to all of us to break this silence”
“How can we demand a ceasefire from Israel without demanding the release of the Israeli hostages? How can we demand the departure of Netanyahu without demanding that of Hamas? This silence which accompanies the victims of October 7 and the hostages continues to divide us and hurt all those, Jewish or not, who are committed to human rights. It is up to all of us to break this silence and the solitude of some of those who listen to us, in the theater and elsewhere.
Later in the evening, Sophia Aram won the Molière for humor for her show The World After.
Words which directly resonate with the Caesar ceremony last February, the scene of several calls for an end to the Israeli response in Gaza without any mention being made of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, nor of the massacre at origin of the clashes perpetrated by the Islamist organization.
A tone which caused debate the day after the awards ceremony: “Who is talking about the hostages?”, Élie Semoun was indignant on social networks. “Women raped daily and who are now pregnant by these monsters? Who has a word for the hell experienced by these women, men and children?”
Chaos in the Middle East
The war has raged between Israel and Hamas since October 7, when the Hamas terrorist organization entered Israeli soil and caused 1,170 deaths before to take away around 240 hostages in Gaza.
In retaliation, Israel launched an ultra-deadly response in Gaza, in which more than 34,000 people died according to figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health. Some 130 Israeli hostages are still being held in Gaza.
