Oscar winner Jonathan Glazer condemns war between Israel and Hamas

British director Jonathan Glazer condemned the war between Israel and Hamas as he accepted the Oscar for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards.

The movie was based on a novel by the late Martin Amis about a Nazi officer’s family living next door to the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War.

“All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present — not to say, ‘Look what they did then,’ rather, ‘Look what we do now’,” Glazer said, his hands shaking with emotion as he delivered his prepared remarks on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Glazer, who is Jewish, said: “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.”

“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present.”

He continued: “Whether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this dehumanisation, how do we resist?”

There was loud applause from the star-studded audience, some of whom, including Billie Eilish, Ava DuVernay, Ramy Youssef and Mark Ruffalo, wore “Artists4Ceasefire” pins.

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’.’’

It came after the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles was delayed by several minutes after demonstrations over Israel’s war in Gaza disrupted nominees’ route to the red carpet.

Pro-Palestine protesters blocked streets leading to the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

The demonstrations forced some stars to abandon their vehicles and take off their high heels make their way on foot up the hill to the venue, while others used golf carts to squeeze through traffic.

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, wielding batons and battering rams declared an unlawful assembly and threatened to arrest people near the ceremony’s venue, as the Los Angeles Police Department deployed about 2,000 officers to the area.

Hollywood stars wearing Arists4Ceasefire pins 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 President 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.’’