Virtue signalling is as familiar a feature of the annual Oscars ceremony as emotional acceptance speeches. So it was no surprise on Sunday evening that Billie Eilish, Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo and other Hollywood celebrities wore red badges demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Of greater interest is the Artists4Ceasefire campaign responsible for this new red-carpet accessory, and the letter that the group has sent to Joe Biden, motivated, its signatories say, “by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity”. Most striking of all is the fact that the petition mentions the pogrom that triggered the conflict only once, and in passing (“Since Oct 7…”) Anyone with a shred of decency wants to see an end to the horrors of this war. But it is important to unpack what, precisely, is meant by the “ceasefire” which is so widely and noisily demanded.
