Pro-Palestine protests delay stars’ Oscar attendance

Billie Eilish and Ramy Yousef among celebrities showing support for Gaza at the Academy Awards

Demonstrations over Israel’s war in Gaza blocked major streets leading to the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday, forcing some stars to use golf carts to squeeze through traffic on their way to the red carpet.
With just a few minutes to go before the 96th Academy Awards was due to begin, many seats inside the Dolby Theatre were still empty as celebrities’ limousines were held up by protesters waving placards and shouting ‘‘Shame’’.
‘‘The Oscars are happening down the road while people are being murdered, killed, bombed,’’ said Zinab Nassrou, one of the protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. 
‘‘We’re here today so people can’t say ‘oh, we did not know.’’’
Police in helmets and wielding batons and battering rams declared an unlawful assembly and threatened to arrest people on Sunset Blvd, as the Los Angeles police department deployed about 2,000 officers to the area.
Some Oscars attendees abandoned their vehicles and took off their high heels to walk up the hill to the ceremony while event staff organised golf carts to transport some nominees who had been delayed an hour.
Inside the event, several celebrities turned the Oscars spotlight on the ongoing conflict.
British director Jonathan Glazer used his speech to condemn the ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Accepting an award for The Zone of Interest, a film about the banality of the Holocaust, Glazer’s hands appeared to tremble as he read a pre-written speech, saying: “All of our choices were made to confront us in the present. Not to say ‘Look what they did then, rather look what we do now’.”
He added: “Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst – it’s shaped all of our past and present.
“Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.
“Whether it’s the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanisation. How do we resist?”
Other stars attached red pins on their outfits, signifying support for the people of Gaza. 
Billie Eilish and Finneas, best song nominees for their contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, filmmaker Ava DuVernay and actor Ramy Youssef were among the attendees wearing the pins launched by the Artists4Ceasefire group. 
Yousef said the artists taking part in the movement wanted ‘‘an immediate and permanent ceasefire’’.
“We’re calling for the safety of everyone involved. We really want lasting justice and peace for the Palestinian people,” the Poor Things star said during a red carpet interview. 
“We really just want to say, ‘let’s just stop killing children.’’’
The group had previously released a letter signed by some of the biggest names in entertainment – including Jennifer Saunders, Sarah Snook, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Cynthia Nixon, and Drake. They called on the US to do more to secure the safety of civilians in Gaza.
‘‘Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world, we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity,’’ the group of celebrities wrote in the letter directed to Joe Biden.
‘‘We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.
‘‘We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing.’’