Ali Cherri, Silver Lion in Venice, denounces Israel for bombing in Beirut in which parents died

On April 2, Lebanese artist Ali Cherri (Silver Lion in Venice at the 2022 Biennale), together with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), filed a war crimes complaint with the crimes against humanity section of the Paris judicial court. The complaint concerns the Israeli attack that struck the artist’s parents’ apartment in Beirut in November 2024, resulting in the deaths of seven civilians, including Mahmoud Cherri and Nadira Hayek, Ali’s parents, and Birki Negesa, who had arrived in Lebanon only a month earlier. This is the first initiative to bring before a French court acts committed by the Israeli army on Lebanese territory. The legal action was made possible by investigations conducted by Forensic Architecture and Amnesty International, which documented the attack in detail.

The bombing took place just hours before a cease-fire went into effect, and to this day the family’s home remains in ruins. As reported by the Artnews news outlet, the raid on Noueiri in November 2024 was an episode in the current Israeli military campaign in Lebanon, which began in October 2023 and is marked by escalating violence related to the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran. Israel justified the attacks on Lebanese residential areas as necessary to neutralize the Iran-aligned Hezbollah armed group, which had fired rockets into Israeli territory in March. According to FIDH, Lebanese deaths since the beginning of 2023 exceed 4,300, while the monitoring group ACLED estimates that Israeli attacks have resulted in at least 1,000 deaths and one million people displaced throughout the country.

Ali Cherri said the decision to take the legal route, made together with her sisters about a year ago, was difficult but necessary. “I could not have taken this step without the support of so many people who have been there for us from the beginning. I will be eternally grateful,” he explained in an Instagram post.

The artist also wished to remember Mohamad Chehab, a cameraman and cameraman who had helped document the stricken building, who was killed along with his three-year-old daughter on March 12 in another Israeli bombing in the Aramoun area on the outskirts of Beirut. His wife Natalie remains in critical condition. Cherri stressed that the incident has strengthened his resolve to pursue legal proceedings. Ali Cherri also explained that the judicial process will be long and complex, but necessary to document and testify so that those responsible for the war crime can be identified and prosecuted. “Perhaps the death of my parents can help prevent more victims,” he added.

As Artnews reports, Ali Cherri, an internationally renowned artist, has been developing a path between sculpture and video for more than two decades that investigates how political violence marks places, people and objects. His works have been exhibited in prominent institutions such as the Vienna Secession and the Swiss Institute, and he has received major awards in the contemporary art world, including the Silver Lion at the 59th Venice Biennale for his sculpture series Titans (2022) and his video installation Of Men and Gods and Mud (2022).

Ali Cherri, Silver Lion in Venice, denounces Israel for bombing in Beirut in which parents died

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.