As One Battle After Another swept the Academy Awards and Michael B Jordan won his first Oscar for his leading role in Sinners, politics once again took centre stage in the Dolby Theatre.
While presenting the award for best international feature film, Javier Bardem spoke with unapologetic directness, saying: “No to war, and free Palestine.” The audience of well-meaning A-listers immediately burst into applause.
Pinned to his lapel was a badge reading "no a la guerra", Spanish for "no to war", in bloodied lettering. Alongside it sat a circular badge bearing the word "Palestine" and an image of Handala, a character created by cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1969, now widely used as a symbol of Palestinian “resistance”.
This is not new and Bardem was certainly not alone. We’ve seen celebrities don Artists4Ceasefire pins at awards ceremonies for over two years now. But, like Handala, for many within the Jewish community, such symbols are not experienced as calls for peace, but as part of a wider culture of “resistance” in which violence against Jews has been justified or celebrated.
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. For many, the Artists4Ceasefire pin is an explicit reference to this incident.
This problem extends far beyond awards ceremonies. “Together Alliance”, a new self-described “anti-far right” umbrella group, is gearing up for a major demonstration in central London on March 28.
Many celebrities have put their names to the event, but so have several organisations that have been criticised for links to, or sympathy with, Islamist or antisemitic ideological positions. Many of these groups have also been involved in organising the regular national marches for Palestine that have included repeated and well-documented instances of antisemitic rhetoric and expressions of support for proscribed terrorist organisations.
The sort of hateful rhetoric we see on these marches is not just tolerated; in some circles it appears increasingly normalised as a condition of social acceptance.
Last week, the Union of Jewish Students’ Time for Change Report found that one in five would be reluctant or unwilling to share a house with a Jew. And this statistic is supported by countless accounts of Jewish students being ostracised from their social groups.
So called “progressive” celebrities should reflect carefully before shouting slogans, wearing badges or aligning themselves with such a deeply troubling coalition.
Celebrities wield enormous influence, particularly over young people. They shape public discourse, confer legitimacy, and signal what is socially acceptable. When that influence is used carelessly, it can embolden extremism and normalise hatred.
To put it simply, any true “anti-racist” has no place associating themselves with those who at best tolerate antisemitism and at worst contribute to the growing hatred of Jews. With an increasing number of deadly terrorist attacks against Jewish communities, ignorance can no longer be an excuse.
Russell Langer is director of public affairs at the JLC
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.