LOS ANGELES: On Sunday, Raed Saleh, the leader of the White Helmets civil defense group won an award and felt this win signified a victory for Syrian people ravaged by six years of war and had lit some hope that the world had not forgotten them. White Helmets made headlines due to President Trump’s controversial Muslim travel ban targeting seven principally Muslim countries, including Farhadi’s native Iran and Syria, the setting of The White Helmets. Farhadi opted not to attend the Oscars in protest of the executive order. Von Einsiedel, who shared the stage with The White Helmets producer Joanna Natasegara, read a statement by Saleh, in which he said, “Our organisation is guided by a verse from the Koran, ‘to save one life is to save all of humanity’. We have saved more than 82,000 civilian lives. I invite anyone here wants to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world.”