Following the Hamas attack on Israel, Dame Maureen Lipman stated that artists should feel “shame” for supporting the Palestinian cause.
This comes after almost 2,000 artists, including Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, Game of Thrones star Charles Dance, Steve Coogan from I’m Alan Partridge, and Harry Potter actress Miriam Margolyes, supported an open plea for humanitarian relief in Gaza.
In order to facilitate the unrestricted entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, Artists For Palestine UK has submitted a letter demanding “an immediate ceasefire and the opening of Gaza’s crossings.”
In addition, it has called on nations to “cease their political and military support for Israel’s actions.”
Liberal painters have been denounced as “bigoted signaturists” by Dame Maureen for supporting the Palestinian cause “at the expense of every other oppressed people of the world.”
She continued, saying, “I agree that the Palestinians are not Hamas; they just elected them,” on the Daily Telegraph’s main page on Monday. And after 17 years, Hamas hasn’t helped the Palestinian people in any way other than robbing them of millions in assistance donations and keeping them in abject poverty.
Since winning parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas has avoided holding elections for lawmakers in Gaza.
“I would love the signaturists to answer me this question: If your beloved country had been under attack for 70 years…,” Dame Maureen said. How enraged, how worn out, and how committed would you be to protecting your nation from any further attacks?
The 77-year-old actress, who most recently starred on Coronation Street, said other performers should feel “shame” for their support of Gaza. She is best known for her roles in the 2002 thriller The Pianist and the 1983 comedy-drama Educating Rita.
She also signed a statement from the British Friends of Israel, along with Countdown actress Rachel Riley, writer Sir Tom Stoppard, composer Sir Tim Rice, presenter Vanessa Feltz, and presenter Vanessa Feltz, according to The Daily Telegraph. The statement was intended to draw attention to antisemitism in the UK.
The October Declaration, which was issued in response to criticism of the police response to protesters, calls on the people, media, and political parties to designate Hamas as a “terrorist organisation.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley are slated to meet on Monday. It is anticipated that Braverman would inquire about the way in which pro-Palestine demonstrators who are chanting “jihad” have been handled.
The force reported that no offences were detected in a video from a Hizb ut-Tahrir demonstration in London on Saturday, which featured a guy yelling “jihad.”
Before Dame Maureen’s remarks became public, Coogan sent a statement to the PA news agency on Sunday in which he denounced “the recent Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel; their deliberate murder of civilians and their taking of hostages.”
Additionally, he stated: “Anyone who cares about human rights should be vigilant and call it out when they encounter it. The Jewish people have been uniquely the target of hate and prejudice for millennia.”
It should go without saying that Hamas committed unspeakable wickedness. It was cruel and horrible.
“Expressing serious concern for the lives and welfare of innocent Palestinian civilians facing a humanitarian disaster, deprived of food, water, medicine, fuel, and shelter, is in no way inconsistent with condemning the Hamas atrocity.”
Sam Heughan, star of Outlander, claimed he “inadvertently” signed the Artists For Palestine UK letter on Thursday and that it does not represent his “beliefs” in a statement sent to X, previously Twitter.
“I thought it was a simple call for peace,” Heughan continued. Not at all.
Violence of any kind is abhorred by me. I detest terrorism and wickedness, and I’m horrified and saddened by the recent atrocities committed by Hamas. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by it; it’s really unsettling.
“I’m trying to educate myself on the conflicts in the Middle East because I don’t know nearly enough.”
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