Several prominent celebrities like Billie Eilish, Finneas, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, and Ramy Youssef showed up on the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards wearing small red pins. These pins featured the silhouette of a hand with a black heart positioned at the palm.
As the pictures of Holywood stars donning the red pins went viral, several fans wondered what it meant. Notably, the pins symbolize a call for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
See the pictures here:
'Poor Things' actor Ramy Youssef explained to a Variety reporter, that these pins are part of a creatives-led initiative to demand peace in Gaza.
“We're all calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We're calling for the safety of everyone involved. We want lasting justice and peace for the Palestinian people. We just want to say, 'Let's stop killing children. There's so much there to process and it feels like the easiest way to have the conversations that people want to have is when they're isn't an active bombing campaign happening,'' Mr Youssef told Variety during the interview.
According to the New York Times, the pins were provided by Artists4Ceasefire, a group of celebrities and members of the entertainment industry who signed an open letter urging President Biden to call for a cease-fire. The letter urged immediate action to halt the violence in Israel and Gaza, emphasising the human toll of the conflict.
Stars who signed the letter include Jessica Chastain, Quinta Brunson, Richard Gere, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Lupita Nyong'o and Mahershala Ali.
"We urge your administration, Congress, and all world leaders, to honour all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages. Half of Gaza's two million residents are children, and more than two-thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them", the letter read.
''The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” Artists4Ceasefire said in a news release.
Actors Milo Machado-Graner and Swann Arlaud of 'Anatomy of a Fall' also wore pins featuring the Palestinian flag. Meanwhile, several protestors took to the streets of Hollywood and disrupted traffic outside the Dolby Theatre in support of Palestine.
