Emma in ‘anti-Semitism’ storm
Israel’s UN envoys past and present slam Watson over Palestine posting
EMMA Watson has been accused of anti-Semitism by a former UN envoy after expressing her support for Palestinians on Instagram.
The 31-year-old Harry Potter actress shared a picture from a ‘Free Palestine’ march, superimposed with the words: ‘Solidarity is a verb.’ Seemingly a call to ensure expressions of political support are backed up with action, the image was accompanied by a caption quoting British-Australian academic Sarah Ahmed, who said: ‘Solidarity involves commitment.’
The picture, shared with Miss Watson’s 64.3million Instagram followers, garnered more than a million ‘likes’ – but Israel’s former United Nations ambassador was less than impressed. Alluding to Miss Watson’s years playing Hogwarts pupil Hermione Granger, Danny Danon tweeted: ‘Ten points from Gryffindor for being an anti-Semite.’ Israel’s current envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, added: ‘Fiction may work in Harry Potter but it does not work in reality. If it did, the magic used in the wizarding world could eliminate the evils of Hamas (which oppresses women and seeks the annihilation of Israel) and the Palestinian Authority (which supports terror).’
Miss Watson, a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador since 2014, was defended by Yair Wallach, senior lecturer in Israeli Studies at SOAS University of London. ‘The attacks on Emma Watson’s tame solidarity message reveal that there are those for whom it would always be wrong to support Palestinians or criticise Israel,’ he said. Tory peer Sayeeda
Warsi described Mr Danon’s comment as ‘appalling’, tweeting: ‘Showing solidarity with Palestinians is not antiSemitism... constant attempts to stifle any and all support for Palestinians must be called out.’
Miss Watson could not be reached for comment last night. The image she shared, of a US march organised by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine, was originally posted last May by the Bad Activist Collective, a ‘multi-media platform run by a collective of activists, artists, story-tellers and change-makers’.