‘Have You No Shame?’: Controversy Over Pro-Gaza Pin To Take Center Stage at Oscars Red Carpet

As Hollywood stars prepare to parade down the red carpet at the 96th Academy Awards draped in jewels and clutching designer handbags, a battle is brewing in La La Land over a different kind of accessory — a pro-Gaza pin.The pins, which were designed and distributed by pro-Palestine group Artists4Ceasefire, feature a red hand with a heart in the middle. A handful of A-list celebrities donned the pins at last year’s Oscars, including pop singer Billie Eilish and actor Mark Ruffalo. According to Artists4Ceasefire, the red background “symbolizes the urgent call to save lives, the orange hand represents the diverse community that has come together to support us, and the heart at the center of the hand is an invitation to lead with our hearts, in love.”However, a Hollywood activist group named the Brigade — formed to support Israel after Hamas’s attack on October 7 — is calling on Hollywood activists to drop the campaign. The coalition, which represents 700 pro-Israel producers, actors, agents, and filmakers, published a scathing rebuke of the pins over the weekend, denouncing them as an “emblem of Jewish bloodshed.”The image of the red hand, the Bridgate charges, is not a symbol of peace, but rather, of a Palestinian lynching of two Israelis who entered Ramallah during the Second Intifada. Following the murder, one of the assailants, Aziz Salha, was pictured holding out his blood-stained hands to a cheering crowd outside of the crime scene. “In 2000, 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,” the Brigade wrote in a letter to Artists4Ceasefire. “That infamous image is now your ‘ceasefire’ badge.”The pro-Israel collective further denounced Artists4Ceasefire for sending letters to award show attendees detailing the campaign on the same day that Israel released the news that 10-month old Israeli hostage, Kfir Bibas, and his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, were murdered “in cold blood” by Hamas terrorists while in captivity in Gaza. The letter sent by Artists4Ceasefire was obtained by Deadline which published a redacted version. Ahead of last week’s Spirit Awards, the pro-Palestine group reportedly wrote: “Hoping this finds you safe and well. Our big congratulations to you and on the Spirit Awards nomination — I’m reaching out to see if might consider wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin at the ceremony this weekend and add her name to our letter.” “Have you no shame?” the Brigade responded. “On the very day that it was discovered that the Bibas babies — innocent Jewish children — were strangled to death by the terrorist’s bare hands, you asked Hollywood to wear it with pride.” “Is this ignorance? Or is this deliberate, calculated malice? It’s not peaceful,” the group wrote. Arists4Ceasefire emerged after October 7 when several Hollywood stars signed a letter calling on then-president, Joe Biden, to negotiate an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, release all hostages, and deliver aid to civilians in Gaza. The letter was endorsed by celebrities like Ben Affleck, Ariana Grande, Bradley Cooper, Drake, Jon Stewart and Mark Ruffalo. In September, the group advocated for a weapons embargo against Israel. The Brigade closed out its statement by issuing a message to members of the Hollywood community planning on wearing the pin, urging them to consider: “Would you proudly wear the emblem of a lynching? Would you parade the symbol of people who strangled babies with their bare hands?” The group continued: “To those who wore it without knowing — now you know. To those who knew and wore it anyway — we see you and we will not be silent.”

‘Have You No Shame?’: Controversy Over Pro-Gaza Pin To Take Center Stage at Oscars Red Carpet

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