Pro-Palestine ‘Harry Potter’ star backed by Hollywood A-Listers

By World Israel News Staff

Harry Potter star Emma Watson was supported by a number of her Hollywood colleagues after she posted a pro-Palestinian statement on Instagram that triggered backlash from the Israeli government and Jewish advocacy groups.

Last week, Watson posted a photo of a pro-Palestinian protest emblazoned with text reading “solidarity is a verb,” signaling her support.

As a caption for the photo, she included a quote which read, “Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain… Solidarity involves commitment, and work….”

The photo immediately drew criticism from Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan, who replied that while “magic 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).”

Former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon slammed Watson using a reference to the Harry Potter movies.

“10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite,” he wrote, addressing the tweet to her.

In an open letter backing Watson on Friday, a few notable Hollywood figures added their names,  saying that the actress was doing her part to call out “Israeli apartheid.”

“We join Emma Watson in support of the simple statement that ‘solidarity is a verb,’ including meaningful solidarity with Palestinians struggling for their human rights under international law,” the statement read.

A-list actors including Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, and Viggo Mortensen, alongside noted director Jim Jarmusch, and some 40 others, signed the letter drafted by the Artists for Palestine UK organization.

“We stand against ongoing Israeli attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory,” the letter continued.

“We recognize the underlying power imbalance between Israel, the occupying power, and the Palestinians, the people under a system of military occupation and apartheid…”

It concluded with a laconic condemnation of antisemitism, grouped together with Islamophobia and all forms of racism.