Javier Bardem: 'Free Palestine' Means War

Ian Haworth
Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:04:41 -0700
Opinion

It wouldn't be an Academy Awards ceremony without the usual onslaught of wealthy elites emerging Team America-style from their Beverly Hills bubble to lecture the world on how best to solve its problems. This year, one such example was Javier Bardem, who used the presentation of the award for Best International Feature — awarded to a Norwegian drama — to declare "No to wars and free Palestine."

Ironically, during his apparent quest for humanity, Bardem simultaneously failed to mention that Oscar-nominated Jafar Panahi has been the target of the Iranian regime, having been arrested on multiple occasions and even sentenced in absentia to a year in prison for criticizing the government.

But that doesn't count, for some reason, and neither does the massacre of tens of thousands of Iranian citizens for daring to protest the regime. Because apparently, all that peace requires is for multimillionaires to stand on a stage in Los Angeles — thousands of miles from the conflict raging in the Middle East — and simply declare that war is bad.
Updated: Tue Mar 17, 2026

It wouldn't be an Academy Awards ceremony without the usual onslaught of wealthy elites emerging Team America-style from their Beverly Hills bubble to lecture the world on how best to solve its problems. This year, one such example was Javier Bardem, who used the presentation of the award for Best International Feature — awarded to a Norwegian drama — to declare "No to wars and free Palestine."

Ironically, during his apparent quest for humanity, Bardem simultaneously failed to mention that Oscar-nominated Jafar Panahi has been the target of the Iranian regime, having been arrested on multiple occasions and even sentenced in absentia to a year in prison for criticizing the government.

But that doesn't count, for some reason, and neither does the massacre of tens of thousands of Iranian citizens for daring to protest the regime. Because apparently, all that peace requires is for multimillionaires to stand on a stage in Los Angeles — thousands of miles from the conflict raging in the Middle East — and simply declare that war is bad.

Problem solved!

The actual problem here, though — beyond the fact that the war in Gaza is over (for now) and that the war in Iran was started by Iran after murdering Americans and Israelis for almost 50 years — is the second part of Bardem's declaration: Free Palestine. Why? Because it is impossible to have "no war" and "free Palestine."

The obvious follow-up response to anyone who proclaims "Free Palestine" — apart from "Get a job" — is "Free Palestine from whom?" So let's consider the two culprits. First, there's the option Bardem obviously doesn't consider: Free Palestine from Hamas. For those who have forgotten, Hamas is a brutal Islamist terrorist organization whose entire existence rests upon their genocidal obsession with eradicating (as their own charter puts it) the "warmongering Jews." In the aftermath of the latest shaky ceasefire, they have immediately moved to reassert complete and ruthless control over the Gaza Strip and its citizens. So, how does Bardem suggest that we free Palestinians from Hamas without war when war is the only language Hamas understands? Muffin baskets?

Second, there's the culprit who — according to Bardem — is to blame here: Free Palestine from Israel. But even if we ignore that Israel has not occupied the Gaza Strip in two decades, and its so-called "occupation" in sections of the West Bank is the result of multiple Arab attempts to destroy Israel and multiple Palestinian refusals to accept peace agreements, there's another issue here: how do you "Free Palestine from Israel" without war when the Palestinians have rejected peace in favor of war time after time after time?

Things get even more complicated when we extend the borders of Palestine from the river to the sea, thereby encompassing the entirety of Israel. How does Bardem want to free Israel from Israel without war? By politely asking Israelis to march into the sea? Good luck with that one.

Of course, Javier Bardem is free to be as anti-Israel and as anti-war and as stupid as he wishes to be. But sooner or later, he's going to have to accept the reality that his Israel-hating allies aren't quite as anti-war as he thinks he is.