At last year’s Oscars ceremony, a number of celebrities, including Billie Eilish, Ramy Youssef and Mark Ruffalo, wore the red-hand pin provided by an organization called Artists4Ceasefire.
Artists4Ceasefire is again calling upon Hollywood luminaries to wear their pin at this Sunday’s Oscars.
Artists4Ceasefire describes itself as calling for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire, full hostage release, and delivery of lifesaving aid in Gaza” and claims that their pin, which depicts a red hand with a black heart in its center, “symbolizes support for universal human rights and lasting peace.”
Let’s ignore the fact that there currently is a ceasefire, that hostages are being released, and that aid is being delivered in Gaza (as it has been throughout the war). What could possibly be problematic in a call for “human rights and lasting peace?”
The problem is in the symbolism of the red hand itself. For many Jews, this symbol is an explicit reference to a 2000 incident in which a group of Palestinians in Ramallah brutally murdered two captured Israeli military reservists. The murderers then held up their bloody, red hands to the delight of a cheering crowd.
Thus, for many Jews, the red hand pin is a symbol of the murder of Jews, and those wearing it are, whether they know it or not, calling for and supporting such murder.
So what do Artists4Ceasefire and those who will wear the pins on Sunday think that the pins mean? Are they calling for the murder of Jews? Are they ignorant of the fact that the image on the pin bears this history and symbolism? Or are they aware that it has this meaning for Jews, but don’t care because, for them, it means something different?
I am reminded of an incident that happened in Hollywood during the writers’ strike of 2023.
The Writers Guild of America had created a private Facebook page in which writers could share information about the strike, commiserate and seek support during a difficult time.
One writer — I’ll call him Bob, though that’s not his real name — shared a post expressing his frustration and making a joke implying that he was ready to kill himself. The post was accompanied by a clip-art type image of a man hanging from a tree in silhouette.
Bob’s post was met with an immediate outcry of shock and outrage, as the image of a man hanging from a tree suggested, to many, the horrific lynching of Black people.
Bob claimed that he never intended for the image to be seen as having anything to do with race or with lynching, but rather that it was just a poor attempt at a joke about suicide.
Leaving aside the inappropriateness of joking about suicide, I must say that I believed Bob here (full disclosure, I worked with Bob many years ago for a brief time). I do not think he meant the image he shared to suggest the lynching of Black people.
The WGA, however, either did not believe Bob or did not care what his intention was. If he did not know that this image would be viewed as racist, he should have known. The WGA officially charged him with “conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild and unfair dealing with other members,” found him guilty and publicly censured him.
The point, as I see it, is that if an image is offensive and hurtful to members of a minority group, that fact should be sufficient cause for all to avoid using such an image in a way that would result in emotional or psychic harm.
This sensitivity applies to displaying pictures of a lynching, just is it applies to displaying confederate flags – due to the meaning the images hold for those who will see them, not just for the intent of those displaying them.
We will see, on Sunday, if this sensitivity applies to the image of a blood red hand, due to the meaning that it holds for Jews.
We will see who is indifferent to the fact that, for Jews, the red hand symbolizes the murder of Jews, by referencing the killing of two Israelis in Ramalah, an incident which, by the way, has been frequently referred to as a “lynching.”
And we will see if any Hollywood unions censure their members who do wear the pin for “conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild.”
Michael Kaplan is a TV writer-producer, playwright, and children’s book author. For his TV work, he has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one.
