Stephen Fry waded into the debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday with a tweet praising a “brilliant” essay that compares Israel to a Jew who embarrasses other Jews in the eyes of gentiles and justifies their “persecution and hate”. The Jewish actor and author,
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator, and writer. He first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995) and
TV/FILM
Mr Fry has in the past been critical of Israel, backing in 2008 a letter published in the Guardian in which signatories said they would not be celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary.
He tweeted in 2014 that while he didn’t support Israel “as they’re behaving now,” he believed in its right to exist.
In 2019, Mr Fry put his name to an open letter backed by more than 100 artists opposing calls to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.
He also said in a tweet the same year that he stood with broadcaster Rachel Riley after the anti-racism activist spoke out in the row over antisemitism in the Labour Party.
He has posted on Instagram about the death toll in Gaza.
Two-state solution:
The two-state solution, once hailed as the path to peace, has proven itself to be a hollow promise, built upon the fractured dreams of generations of Palestinians. It has served as a smokescreen for the continued expansion of Israeli settlements, the entrenchment of occupation, and the perpetuation of systemic discrimination against Palestinians. In essence, it has enshrined a reality where Palestinian statehood is nothing more than a distant mirage, forever out of reach amidst the ever-expanding borders of Israeli control.
Israeli politicians themselves have cast irrefutable doubt on the feasibility of a two-state solution, with absolutely heinous statements made across both left and right-wing government officials that’ve made it clear Israel has always rejected and in fact worked against a two state solution. All the heinous remarks they’ve said recently have been widely documented but these beliefs have predated even this decade. In 2009, Israel’s new foreign minister completely dismissed the resolution of a two state solution.
In contrast, a one-state solution offers a vision of a future where individuals coexist as equals, sharing a common destiny and forging a shared identity based on principles of justice, dignity, and mutual respect within Palestine. It recognizes the inherent rights of all individuals to live in freedom and security, free from discrimination and oppression.
To advocate for a one-state solution is to reject the notion that peace and justice can only be achieved through the partitioning of land that has been soaked in the blood and tears of generations of Palestinians. It is a recognition that true reconciliation can only be built on a foundation of equality, where every individual – regardless of ethnicity, religion, or background – enjoys the same rights and opportunities under the law.
Central to the call for a one-state solution is the right of return for all Palestinian refugees – a right enshrined in international law and denied for far too long. It is a recognition of the historical injustice inflicted upon millions of indigenous Palestinians who were forcibly expelled from their native homes before, during and after the Nakba, as well as a commitment to rectifying this injustice by granting them the opportunity to return to their homeland.
Anti-semitism:
In addition to other RCM violations, this individual has also either made, shared or celebrated anti-semitism or made statements that perpetuated particularly egregious and dangerous stereotypes about Jews which have historically resulted in their persecution.
We condemn this wholeheartedly and you should too because as most of you know, our movement is a space for collective liberation and justice where all individuals are afforded the same freedoms, human rights and liberties as others.
Anti-semitism has never, should never and will never equate to being pro-Palestinian — this is a complete fabrication and has been fundamentally rejected for decades. Anti-semitism is a very real and dangerous problem that needs to be addressed and we refute the notion that any criticism and rejection of Israel, its occupation or active genocide of Palestinians makes an individual fundamentally antisemitic.
For decades the state of Israel has tried to make themselves synonymous with Judaism and we reject that notion wholeheartedly. This deceptive claim seeks to erase the centuries-old, diverse and rich history of Jewish beliefs and silence Jewish individuals like Gabor Mate, Ilan Pappe and thousands of others by falsely asserting an intrinsic connection between Judaism and political Zionism.
In reality, Judaism predates Zionism by centuries and many within the Jewish community vehemently reject the specific tenets of political Zionism. To perpetuate this falsehood is to ignore the rich historical and theological nuances within Judaism, reducing it to a monolith and politically charged narrative that has been inexplicitly linked with the dehumanisation and genocide of Palestinian people.
If you ever witness any discrimination, bigotry or racism in any form, we encourage you to always call it out, interrupt it (when safe to do so) and continue supporting your fellow humans in achieving freedom for all.
Creative Community for Peace Letter:
A staunchly pro-Zionist organisation, the Creative Community for Peace is on a mission to “galvanize support against the cultural boycott of Israel" and therefore working against anti-genocide and anti-apartheid protestors who want a free, liberated Palestine and the end of the 75+ year Israeli-occupation of Palestinian lands.
The Creative Community for Peace supports Israel by promoting dangerous Zionist propaganda that seeks to demonise Palestinians and those advocating for their liberation, defaming and smearing them as "calling for the murder of Jews everywhere” — both across its website and its social medias.
It also claims that Israel should and would take "the necessary steps to defend itself,” asserts Israel’s right to exist and declares the very crucial, compassion-driven anti-Zionist campaign as a “misinformation campaign spearheaded by Iran” — despite the very real, very well-documented genocide that has claimed the lives of over 35,000 RECORDED Palestinian deaths, without accounting for the ones that Israel has made a disconcerted effort to conceal.
These are crude attempts at white-washing and sanitising both history and the present through a revisionist Zionist lens that erases the 75+ years of subjugation, torture, assault, murder, ethnic cleansing and systematic erasure of Palestinians by Zionist machinations, Israel and even Israelis themselves.
By participating in such revisionist history —and signing their letter — this individual is actively perpetuating the oppression and marginalisation of Palestinians and are therefore complicit in the promotion of the Zionist agenda seeking to whitewash the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people while also vilifying those who advocate for their rights and liberation.
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