Miriam Margolyes says 'you can't cancel me' amid calls for her to be stripped of OBE
Miriam Margolyes has revealed she doesn't fear getting cancelled after calling out Israel's actions in Gaza. She says she has a responsibility to speak out and call for change and doesn't worry about any consequences.
The actress, 84, called for fellow Jews around the world to 'shout, beg, scream for a ceasefire' in Gaza last year. Miriam said she was 'so ashamed of Israel ' for defending its actions.
The Harry Potter star teamed up with the Jewish Council of Australia where she issued her video message. It comes after Bob Geldof issued a desperate plea on Sky News to save babies in Gaza.
There have been calls for Miriam to be stripped of her OBE after comparing the Israeli government's actions to the Nazis during the Holocaust. In an interview with the Big Issue, she said: "I cannot bear to think that my people are doing exactly the same thing to another nation."
Miriam has stood by her statements and has no worries about it. She told The Guardian newspaper: 'People say: 'You're just an actor, for f***'s sake, shut up.' Well, that is a point of view. I don't happen to share that.
"I think that if you have a chance to make an impact for good, to change things, then you should. I think it's an absolute requirement, and people don't, out of fear sometimes. They are afraid of being cancelled. You can't cancel me!'
Miriam also had the same sentiments in her interview with the BBC as she said: "They talk about cancel, being cancelled, but nobody's going to cancel me, I'm not having it.
"I don't think people should use that expression. Everybody should be able to express their opinion. What Israel is doing to Palestine is wicked and it's totally against our upbringing as Jews."
In her video last year, Miriam said: 'To me, it seems as if Hitler has won. He's changed us Jews from being compassionate and caring and do unto others as you would have them do unto you into this vicious, genocidal nationalist nation, pursuing and killing women and children.'
She condemned the actions of Hamas and allies on October 7. Miriam said what is happening in Gaza is 'shocking, embarrassing and wicked and I cannot understand why all Jewish people, particularly members of synagogues, do not want immediately to stop what is going on.'
The actress was awarded an OBE in 2002 for Services to drama, but she has now faced calls for her to be stripped of the honour. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) responded to her statements and called it 'repugnant'.
A statement from the CAA said: "The fact she was born Jewish does not give her license to use her immense platform to spread anti-Jewish venom.
'This has to be the end of the road. She must be shunned by the showbiz world that has fawned and bowed until now.' CAA added that it would write to the Honours Forfeiture Committee as well as BAFTA to ask them to remove Miriam of her titles.
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