On Monday, British actress received massive amount of backlash after she expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine on her Instagram account. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations was one of those who lashed out at the British actress.
In an Instagram post, the Harry Potter star, Emma Watson shared a picture from a pro-Palestinian rally with the phrase, “Solidarity is a verb.” In the caption, Watson included a quote from British-Australian activist Sara Ahmed, who 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.”
https://www.instagram.com/emmawatson/p/CYPyQZcvfLN/?utm_medium=copy_link
Meanwhile, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, took to Twitter to criticise the actress’ remarks, writing: “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 PA (which supports terror). I would be in favor of that!” he added.
His comments came shortly after Danny Danon, the former Israeli ambassador to the UN, also lashed out at Watson.
“10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite,” Danon tweeted.
Taking a dig at the former ambassador, broadcaster Mehdi Hasan in a tweet said, “Former Israeli ambassador to the UN calls Emma Watson an ‘antisemite’ for expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. Beyond parody.”
The picture was originally posted in May by the ‘Bad Activism Collective’ after Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of more than 250 Palestinians.