Prominent Israel advocates Noa Tishby and Yoseph Haddad slammed the celebrities who wore the red Artists4Ceasefire pins to the Oscars on Sunday.
Both advocates have been working tirelessly for the past five months in international advocacy work, explaining to politicians, students, and the general public about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Using all platforms available to them, they have covered numerous occasions where celebrities, and other known individuals - both Israeli and not - spoke for and against Israel, expressing their perspectives on what was said and done.
At its mildest, this is subconscious antisemitism; at its worst, deliberate attacks against Jews.
Noa Tishby
On Sunday's Oscars event, which was held at the Dolby Theatre in Lost Angeles, some celebrities were seen wearing a new kind of pin; a red pin with an illustration of a hand with a black heart at its center.
— Ali Esmail (@AliEsmail80) March 11, 2024
The pin represents the movement Artists4Ceasefire, and according to Haddad, this pin was "launched [...] as a response to the yellow pin calling for the release of the Israeli hostages." Among the celebrities who wore the pin were Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Cord Jefferson, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay, Ramy Youssef, and Quannah Chasinghorse.
View this post on Instagram
In place of yellow ribbons, there were red hands
According to both advocates, there is powerful symbolism in wearing the Artists4Ceasefire red pin. Tishby pointed out that the absence of the yellow ribbon pins, which represent the call to return the Israeli hostages, combined with the emergence of the red pins is as if "you are promoting Hamas's agenda by questioning Israel's right to self-defense."
To Ramy Youssef, wearing the pin is "a universal message of just let's stop killing kids" was written in Tishby's Instagram post. Youssef also stressed that the pin symbolizes "justice for the people of Palestine."
While Tishby's post focuses on the symbolism in the absence of the yellow pin, Yoseph Haddad chooses to highlight that to him, the red pin "supports the side of a terrorist organization that committed a brutal massacre [...] and also proclaims that the Israeli hostages can [stay] in Gaza and continue to go through hell."View this post on Instagram