Richard Gere on the 10th anniversary of Open Arms: "Netanyahu must go"

BarcelonaOpen Arms celebrated its tenth anniversary of rescue missions this Monday night, during which it has saved more than 76,000 people. The NGO organized a charity gala at Barcelona's Lonja de Mar, bringing together volunteers and representatives of civil society, as well as well-known figures such as American actor Richard Gere, who has been collaborating with the Badalona-based organization for years. "They thank me for coming to support this cause, but we should thank them and the people for their solidarity," said the actor, who also called for an end to the war in Gaza: "Netanyahu must go," he said. He also asked for applause for the people sailing on the flotilla to the Strip.

Presented by communicator Marc Giró, the Open Arms anniversary gala was a major event of vindication, recalling some of the most moving moments from the more than 120 rescue missions. Director and founder Òscar Camps emotionally expressed his gratitude to the thousands of volunteers who have participated in these ten years of rescues, marked by the obstacles imposed by the Italian and Spanish governments and by the rise of far-right hate speech against immigration.

Campos: "Europe has failed"

But Camps also recalled that if Open Arms still exists ten years later, it is "because Europe has failed." "Regardless of each person's administrative situation, we always opt for rescue, to prioritize life. We do not intend to leave anyone adrift," he added.

Other well-known faces who joined the celebration included Eduard Fernández, Rozalén, Sergi López, Rigoberta Bandini, Silvia Abril, Juan Manuel Serrat, Andreu Buenafuente, and Rossy de Palma, who claimed that "no one is illegal" and that she does not "believe."

The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, criticized a message on social media by the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, in which he said that the Open Arms ship should be sunk. "The ships of those who want to destroy lives should be sunk, not those who seek to save them," Urtasun argued. The Catalan government was represented at the gala by the regional minister for Equality and Feminism, Eva Menor.