A bitter storm is brewing in Hollywood, and it has nothing to do with who’ll take home an Oscar this Sunday. It’s about what some celebrities might wear on their lapels, and the timing couldn’t be more raw.
Last Thursday, Israeli authorities confirmed that 10-month-old Kfir Bibas and his 4-year-old brother Ariel had been brutally killed by their Hamas captors. That same day, Artists4Ceasefire was busy emailing Oscar attendees, encouraging them to wear red hand pins in support of Gaza, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” the organization said. “Artists4Ceasefire stands for a future rooted in freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people. Compassion must prevail.”
But these are anything but innocent symbols.
“That pin is no symbol of peace. It is the emblem of Jewish bloodshed,” reads a furious statement from The Brigade, a group founded by Jewish PR, studio executives and filmmakers in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre on southern Israel.
They trace the red hand imagery to a dark moment from 2000 when two Israeli reservists took a wrong turn into Ramallah. Palestinian police detained them at a local station, but word of their presence spread quickly. They were killed in a frenzy of violence that Palestinian police didn’t bother to stop. In the aftermath, an Arab named Aziz Salha appeared at the station’s window displaying his bloody palms to the roaring crowd below.
For many Israelis and Jews around the world, that blood-soaked hand raised in celebration remains one of the most disturbing images from the Second Intifada.
“Palestinian terrorists in Ramallah lynched two innocent Israelis, ripped them apart limb by limb, and held up their blood-soaked hands to a cheering mob. That infamous image is now your ‘ceasefire’ badge,” The Brigade wrote.
“Have you no shame? Would you proudly wear the emblem of a lynching? Would you parade the symbol of people who strangled babies with their bare hands?”
Last year, anti-Israel celebrities like Billie Eilish, Ramy Youssef and Ava DuVernay were seen wearing them at the Academy Awards.
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