Emma Watson pro Palestine post sparks controversy

Emma Watson, a 31-year-old Hollywood actress sparked a major controversy with her pro-Palestine post on Instagram which flooded a number of anti-Semitism accusations.

In the post, a picture of a rally by Palestinian people is overlaid with the words, “Solidarity is a verb”, with a caption in which she has quoted academic Sara Ahmed on the meaning of solidarity.

The post invited more than 1.2 million likes, with her comment section being split between those criticizing her and those who came in her support.

The post also drew the attention of Israeli diplomat Danny Danon, the country’s former ambassador to the United Nations, who reposted Emma’s post on Twitter, with a caption, “10 points from Gryffindor for being antisemite”. Israel’s current ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, also condemned the actress’s post, “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!”Many came in support of Emma Watson, lashing out at Danny Danon, with Tony peer Sayeeda Warsi calling out Danny’s comment as “appalling”. “The constant effort to stiffly any and all support for Palestinian must be called out”, she said.

Many called out against being called an antisemite for just showing solidarity with the Palestinians.

Emma Watson is an outspoken feminist who saw a shoot up in popularity with her role as “Hermione Granger” in the most famous Harry Potter series of JK Rowling. She has used her popularity to popularize various causes.

In 2014 she was appointed as a UN women’s goodwill ambassador and delivered an address at the UN headquarters in New York to launch HeForShe, a campaign that urges men to advocate women’s equality.

Updated by Preet Joshi