Emma Watson accused of antisemitism after pro-Palestine Instagram post

The British actress was accused of antisemitism by Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations.

Emma Watson accused of antisemitism after pro-Palestine Instagram post
AP Photo/Scott Garfitt
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Emma Watson is facing accusations of promoting antisemitism after she publicly voiced her support for the Palestinian liberation movement.

In an Instagram post, the actress best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films shared a photograph of a pro-Palestinian protest with the banner “solidarity is a verb” written across. The photo was accompanied by a quote on the meaning of solidarity from critical race theorist and post-colonialist, queer theory scholar, Sara Ahmed.

The post has attracted more than a million likes, and has been commented on over 100,000 times with many users sporting either Israeli or Palestinian flags in their usernames and bios.

The British actress’ position garnered widespread support from woke leftist activists, the majority of whom support the abolition of Israel, which they refer to as an apartheid state.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Watson, who was accused of antisemitism by Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations, creating an awkward situation for the actress given Watson’s role as a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.

Danny Danon, who was previously science minister in Netanyahu's Israeli government and also Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, screen-capped Watson’s Instagram post to share on Twitter, where he wrote, “10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite. @EmmaWatson.”

Watson also faced criticism from Israel's current ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan.

“Fiction may work in Harry Potter but it does not work in reality,” Erdan wrote. “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). I would be in favor of that!”

While Israelis and those supportive of the secular Jewish state voiced support for both Erdan and Danon, liberal Jews like Indivisible Project director Leah Greenberg, whose organization was founded in response to the election of Donald Trump, said that the backlash Watson was facing is “a perfect demonstration of the utterly cynical and bad-faith weaponization of antisemitism to shut down basic expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Watson’s supporters, and other leftists intent on the destruction of Israel, regurgitated lies about the country’s foundation and promoted the supposed sovereignty of a “Palestinian” state.

According to The Guardian, the image posted on Watson’s account was created by a leftist group called The Bad Activist Collective, which produced the image during clashes in Israel, when Israeli jets struck terrorist targets in Gaza in response to thousands of rocket launches.

An estimated 3,440 rockets were launched toward the communities of Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem and others.

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