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Emma Watson is with Palestine

January 31, 2022 at 1:52 pm

British actress Emma Watson in London on 17 October 2021 [JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images]

“Solidarity is a verb.”

More than forty prominent film personalities in the world of Hollywood, including actors, directors and writers, at the forefront of which are: Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Capaldi and Charles Dance, announced they were standing in solidarity with British actress, Emma Watson, and agreeing with her position in support of the Palestinian people in the face of occupation, apartheid and forced displacement. This was in light of the occupation’s claims that she was anti-Semitic because of her declared support for the struggle of the Palestinian people, and support of their legitimate aspirations for equality, independence and return.

The actress was previously honoured and appointed by the United Nations Women’s Council in July 2014 as a Goodwill Ambassador for her outstanding work for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

On a professional level, Emma Watson has achieved tangible successes, making her one of the highest-paid actors, receiving $20 million per film since 2009.

READ: Emma Watson post shows Israel’s anti-Semitism smears are beginning to break down

Her superior professional presence, moral standing and declared positive bias in favour of the cause of the Palestinian people infuriated the Zionists and its supporters, prompting them to launch defamation campaigns against her, to which she responded that her declaration of “solidarity is an act” has a price.

Emma Watson’s bias is not normal and not without price. It is an expression of two opposing cases, the first: the behaviour of the Israeli coloniser, its extremism and its aggression, and exposing the truth of its unjust colonial project on the land of Palestine and against its people.

The second is the valour of the Palestinians, their struggle, their steadfastness, the justice of their cause and the legitimacy of their demands.

Harry Potter star, Emma Watson, slammed by Israel officials after pro-Palestine post - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

Harry Potter star, Emma Watson, slammed by Israel officials after pro-Palestine post – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]

Upon closely examining the success of the colony project, it is due to three factors:

Firstly, the initiative of the Zionist movement itself, its work and its adherence to its project until it accomplished and achieved it on the ground.

Secondly, the European colonial countries supported it, especially Britain with its decisions, France with its weapons, Germany with its compensation before the US fully adopted it.

Thirdly, the international community sympathised with the suffering of the Jews in Europe and the oppression and abuse of the Romans, Nazis and fascists before and during World War II.

Palestine is the opposite of the colony project. The three factors were not offered to it, and the Palestinian revolution did not achieve its goal and faltered because it does not have the elements of unity. The division before 1948 is now renewed and worse – between Fatah and Hamas, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and between the Joint Parliamentary List and the Unified Parliamentary List in the territories occupied in 1948.

There has been trio of achievements won by the Palestinians: First, from outside the homeland with the birth of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, its struggle and political achievements before returning to Palestine; second, due to the first Intifada in 1987 that brought back the Palestinian action from exile to the homeland and, third, due to the Second Intifada in 2000 that forced the occupation forces to leave the Gaza Strip, removal of settlements there and the dismantlement of the occupation army’s bases. However, the Palestinian people have not been able to continue the path towards the explosion of the third Intifada so far, and their struggle on the ground against the occupation is limited to individual brave initiatives.

The international community’s solidarity with the Palestinian people has become tangible and prominent, and it is advancing despite the occupation and the violation of free normalisation. The phenomenon of the British actress and her companions supporting Palestine is nothing but an affirmation of this successful solidarity that will lead to the desired results: the victory of Palestine and the defeat of the occupation.

READ: Harry Potter star slammed by Israel officials after pro-Palestine post

This article first appeared in Arabic in Addustour on 30 January 2022

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.