Emma Watson won support from pro-Palestine social media users over post
Harry Potter alum and renowned British actress Emma Watson faced backlash from the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations over a post she shared on Instagram on Sunday, wherein Watson shared an image from the Bad Activist Collective to voice her support of Palestine.
The social media post showed a picture of pro-Palestinian activists rallying in the backdrop of an image cutout of words, “solidarity is a verb’. Below the image, Emma Watson shared a quote by British-Australian scholar Sara Ahmed, which said “Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future.”
“Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground,” the quote continued.
While the gender equalitiy activist’s post garnered praise from pro-Palestine social media users, it also elicited backlash from Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan.
“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 & seeks the annihilation of Israel) and the PA (which supports terror). I would be in favor of that!” wrote Gilad on Twitter while sharing the Emma Watson post.
Similarly, Israel’s former permanent representative to the UN Danny Danon quipped: “10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite.”
Meanwhile, Jerusalem-based writer and The Nation correspondent Mohammed El-Kurd wrote: “The Israeli Ambassador to the UN calls Emma Watson an “anti-Semite” for posting “solidarity is a verb,” a week after Zionists smeared Desmond Tutu as “anti-Jewish.” How is this not satire?”
The post came less than a week after Defense Minister Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his home, the first time the PA leader met with a senior Israeli official inside Israel since 2010.
