Celebrities, including Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo, shared their support for Harry Potter star Emma Watson after the actress was accused of antisemitism over a pro-Palestinian Instagram post.
More than 40 celebrities from the film industry have endorsed Watson’s sentiments in a joint statement after the actress faced scrutiny for sharing a photo expressing support for Palestine, according to a report by Daily Mail.
Watson’s former Harry Potter co-stars Miriam Margolyes and Julie Christie also signed onto the joint statement.
“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. “We oppose injustice anywhere in the world and stand with all those seeking an end to oppression.”
The celebrities went on to attack Israel in their statement, adding, “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 statement 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, as described by Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, and by Palestinian and international human rights experts.
We condemn all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. Opposition to a political system or policy is distinct from bigotry, hatred and discrimination targeting any group of humans based on their identity. We see the former as a legitimate and necessary form of political and ethical expression and the latter as racism — pure and simple.
The celebrities concluded their statement by quoting the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
“Heeding Tutu’s moral appeal, we stand on the side of justice, freedom, and equal rights for all,” they said. “This is the least we can do.”
Watson was accused of antisemitism by former Israel Permanent Representative to the United Nations Danny Danon, as well as the country’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan.
Earlier this month, Watson had posted an image captioned with a quote from scholar Sara Ahmed.
The quote read:
“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.” –Sara Ahmed
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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