A pro-Palestinian march along Main Street in Park City drew about 100 protesters to the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday. The march, organized by Let Gaza Live, bussed protesters from nearby Kimball Junction and took up space in front of the local Riverhorse restaurant on Main.
The event was unrelated to Sundance. The protest comes as several families of those held hostage by Hamas in its ongoing war with Israel have attended local events in Park City.
“Genocide Joe, what are you saying? How many children did you kill today?” The crowd chanted as festival-goers in baggy sweaters ate brunch in an atrium above the street. They referenced President Joe Biden and carried signs calling the world leader a “butcher” and denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protest remained peaceful, although Park City police ultimately closed down almost all of Main Street, the center of the annual cinema convention.
Noa Tishby, a former Israeli special envoy on anti-Semitism and a writer, actress and producer, was in disbelief as she spoke to Variety before attending an official Sundance panel held alongside the protests.
“It’s a shocking situation that’s happening right now,” Tishby said. “This is a group of uneducated, misguided people who, instead of actually bringing about change in the region, are standing up there protesting for the good of the Palestinians. Pro-Isreal is the most appropriate stance.”
Addressing the devastating conflict, Tishby said: “One side is a democracy, and like any other democracy, it is a flawed democracy.” The other side is a jihadist genocidal organization fully committed to your destruction. There is no symmetry here. Yet they are celebrated by bastions of the liberal left as if they were some kind of freedom fighters.”
Families of hostages who arrived at Sundance for events such as a candlelit Shabbat celebration Friday night used the platform to demand the release of their loved ones and a wholesale end to anti-Semitism.
“Seeing the informal environment and support was really important for us and to be able to tell our stories,” said Ronen and Orna Neutra, whose 22-year-old son Omer is currently in Hamas captivity. “There are still 136 hostages in Gaza, including six Americans, including our son. We must focus on the humanitarian crisis that began on October 7th when Israel was attacked and hostages were taken.”
Protest organizers said they had “no issues with Sundance as a whole, we want to allow spectators.” [and] News reporters know that Utah stands with Palestine.”
According to a statement before the march, festival officials said they were “made aware of the demonstration and their commitment to maintaining a peaceful environment.” Although the organizers have nothing to do with the festival itself, the safety of our festival goers is always our concern at heart and we consistently work with local law enforcement to maintain an environment that is welcoming, inspiring and safe for all of us participants.”