Images

From pins to protests — everything pro-Palestine at the Academy Awards

From pins to protests — everything pro-Palestine at the Academy Awards

'It's a universal message of let's stop killing kids. Let's not be part of more war,' said actor Ramy Youssef.
Updated 11 Mar, 2024

The 96th Academy Awards took place on Sunday and while Hollywood’s most glamorous night was underway, some celebrities and activists still stood in solidarity with Gaza, remembering the plight of Palestine.

Here is everything pro-Palestine that happened at the Oscars.

Artists for Ceasefire

Numerous celebrities were spotted wearing the Artists for Ceasefire pin, which is emblematic of an open letter written to US President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The letter has been signed by hundreds of artists, however, only a few were seen wearing the pin.

Actors Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef

Musicians Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connor

Actor Riz Ahmed

Filmmaker Shruti Ganguly

Actor Eugene Lee Yang

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay

Actor Quannah ChasingHorse

Actors Milo Machado-Graner and Swann Arlaud — who were wearing badges with the Palestinian flag

Speeches for Palestine

Speeches calling for a ceasefire were few and far between — only two came to our attention.

Jonathan Glazer’s acceptance speech

British director Jonathan Glazer condemned the Israeli occupation of Gaza after winning the Best International Feature Film award for The Zone of Interest — which follows the story of a Nazi camp commandant who lives next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” he stated during his speech.

Ramy Youssef’s red carpet speech

The Poor Things actor, who has consistently vocalised his support for Gaza, said that artists with the red Artists for Ceasefire pin were calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as well as peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine.

“It’s a universal message of just let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war. No one’s ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea,” he said.

Youssef maintained that the list of artists supporting a ceasefire was growing and a lot of people would be wearing the pins because they wanted to use their position to “speak to people’s hearts”.

Protests near Dolby Theatre

Reuters reported that as stars began arriving to walk the red carpet, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters angered by Israeli aggression in Gaza shouted and slowed traffic in the blocks surrounding the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held.

“While you’re watching, bombs are dropping,” one sign read.

The Avengers actor Ruffalo praised the protesters as he entered the theatre and raised a clenched fist. “We need peace,” he said.

Pro-Palestine organisation Jewish Voice for Peace stated that hundreds of Jews, allies, members from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists supporting the ceasefire and film workers for Palestine were all present in the heart of Hollywood.

“While Hollywood celebrates, Israel prepares for the ground invasion of Rafah, where over 1.3 million Palestinians are seeking refuge. This comes as reports of extreme hunger continue to mount on the first day of Ramadan,” they said, adding that the protesters stood in solidarity with Palestine.

“We won’t stop bearing witness. WHILE YOU’RE WATCHING, BOMBS ARE DROPPING.”

Comments

NYS Mar 11, 2024 01:05pm
Genocide! Malnutrition deliberately! Bloodshed! Lip service is the least gesture in terms of extremism... CEASEFIRE !
Recommend
Anonymouseee Mar 11, 2024 02:21pm
This world is black n white now. The mighty who rule and will kill anyone without any repercussions and the weak who will keep getting killed .
Recommend
Taj Ahmad Mar 11, 2024 02:58pm
Non-Violent protest always successful and most effective. Majority of people around the world are with the innocent people of Gaza.
Recommend
Syed Hasni Mar 11, 2024 03:12pm
Peace is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it- Mahatma Gandhi UN should intervene and enforce a ceasefire! Irrespective of involved party positions.
Recommend
Yemeen ul Islam Zuberi Mar 11, 2024 08:39pm
Snatching food from the beseeched and then killing them like cockroaches are heinous crimes
Recommend
Rao Amjad Ali Mar 12, 2024 05:47am
The brazen murder of over 32000 Palestinian children, women, and the aged imminently qualifies Netanyahu and his government to be tried for war crimes.
Recommend
MBA Mar 12, 2024 10:19am
.... how many times must the cannonballs fly, Before they're forever banned? And how many years can some people exist; Before they're allowed to be free? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind
Recommend
Faisal Anwar Malik Mar 12, 2024 10:25am
These pins & speeches mean nothing just like combined strength or Muslim countries add up-to ZERO. What use is having 100,000 or 1.0 million plus armies with defense equipment purchased form western or eastern countries when you are afraid of using it lest it angers the western countries. It is only a matter of time before our turn comes...
Recommend
Sunny Mar 12, 2024 01:06pm
What Hollywood says or does is irrelevant. No one watches the Oscars as all Hollywood are left leaning Liberal idiots
Recommend
Laila Mar 12, 2024 06:54pm
If Rami Youssef and those in support of Palestinians was so preoccupied then he should have boycotted the event and been on the other side of the fence along with the people protesting outside and blocking the cars arriving s with the Oscars attendants. One might also ask why there was and is no similar worldwide protests for the Kashmiris, refugees of Mynamar, the UhighurMuslims. All injustice matters
Recommend
Khalifa Wasi-Uddin Ahmed Mar 13, 2024 12:08am
Taj Ahmad, what good has it done the people of Gaza that the majority of the world is with them? Especially because the majority of the world is non-violent?
Recommend
Gurpreet Singh Mar 14, 2024 02:15am
@NYS - And what exactly has Pakistan done to help the Palestinians except lip service? Or even the Arabs for that matter? The white liberals in the west have protested more than Muslims around the world.
Recommend
NYS Mar 14, 2024 12:27pm
@Gurpreet Singh it's a matter of survival for the fittest ...Mankind
Recommend