British Actress Laila Rouass Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Addresses Palestine Advocacy Challenges

"There is a problem when we defend Palestine, we are treated as anti-Semites. I have not spoken to a single Arab who has said anything anti-Semitic, and that is the truth. I have not spoken to anyone who is pro-Palestinian or pro-humanity who has said anything anti-Semitic," said the London-born woman who grew up hearing and talking about the history of Palestine, the Nakba in 1948 and the 75 years of occupation and displacement of the Palestinian people within her own family. This British woman of Moroccan origin recalled that the kingdom has "a very ancient Jewish community that we love and protect. I wonder why the fact that I say or someone says ’give the Palestinians their human rights’ would be anything other than that?"

Like many public figures of Middle Eastern origin, Laila has been led to answer the question most frequently asked by the Western media: "Do you condemn Hamas?" "A few channels have asked me this question and as soon as they ask it, I want to hang up the phone because I know what’s coming. I know what kind of interview it’s going to be," she confides. "I don’t have time for that. It’s racist. It’s offensive. For me, it’s as if they’re asking me questions about Hamas, and out of context. As soon as you ask that question, it takes away all legitimacy from this conversation for me." According to her, when she is asked if she condemns Hamas, she is already in a position of weakness, because she has to justify the fact that she says that killing, torture and genocide must be stopped.

"Every minute and every second we sit here debating and talking, another person is dying. We don’t have the privilege of time right now. The only thing we should be talking about is a ceasefire. For me, that’s the only conversation we should be having right now," says the British actress. And she adds: "The most important thing for me, after a ceasefire, after providing aid to the Palestinian people, is to know that they are not alone, to know that we have fought. We have used our voices, we hear them and our hearts bleed for them. We cry for every child, every mother, every father, every daughter and every son who dies. We are in mourning. I want the Palestinian people to know that."