Harry Potter and the Epidemic of Israel-hate Raging Across Planet Showbiz

For quite a while now, I have been puzzled about the epidemic of passionate Palestine partisanship raging across Planet Show-biz. I have asked myself why so many actors and musicians have contracted what we’ll call Palestine Delusion Syndrome (PDS), or in its acute form, Chronic Palestine Delusion Syndrome (CPDS) and have thus become devout, vocal Israel-haters – and in quite a few cases Jew-haters.

I am not, by the way, suggesting there should not be sympathy among show-biz folk for Palestinians. Just that the sympathy should be for the right reasons. As I have said many times before, Palestinians are indeed victims, just not of Israel. As I just said in another recent blog their victimizers were Arab Nationalists and then Arab Nationalists-plus-Soviets and are now some powerful axis that includes Iran. And all of them have exacerbated Palestinian hardship, keeping a significant number in poverty and radicalizing them for a martyr’s death (or an Israeli prison) as part of a cycle of violence that ensures Palestinians never have peace or a state, just ongoing conflict with Israel which is intended to ultimately lead to the destruction of the planet’s one and only Jewish state.

In case it’s not obvious, Palestine Delusion Syndrome is a belief in the fake, Soviet-fabricated version of Middle East history which alleges that Palestinian Arabs are the victims of Jews when plainly Jews who lived continuously in their ancestral homeland and have only one state, are the victims here (of Arab Nationalists, the Soviets and now an unholy axis of god-knows-who but definitely including Iran.)

A common symptom of both PDS and its chronic variant, is a belief in the “genocide” delusion, despite the endless empirical evidence that the “genocide illusion” was skilfully crafted by Hamas and its funders through fake statistics, phoney “scholars”, hostile NGOs, ceaseless repetition and unverified allegations enthusiastically reported as “facts” by a breathtakingly biased media. And also that the Palestinian-Arab population has grown exponentially under Israeli rule – including in Gaza where a “genocide” was alleged.

Other symptoms include the belief that Israel – where 2.5 million Arabs live, have the vote, are represented in Parliament and hold senior roles in every profession –  is an “apartheid state”; and that Jews “ethnically cleansed” Arabs, when more than 5 million Arabs live in Gaza and the West Bank, while Jews were kicked out of most Arab states in 1947-8 and where none but a tiny remnant live today, and that Jews were completely excluded from The West Bank and Gaza from1948 to 1967.

Other tell-tale signs of infection include the sharing of incendiary and/or racist allegations on social media, and being a signatory to letters and statements containing patently fabricated or absurd allegations about Israel. Also, wearing a keffiyah, water-melon earrings or even a Red-Hand pin which is a vile symbol of the cold-blooded slaughter of two kidnapped Israelis inside a Ramallah police-station in 2000.

Rare, bizarre PDS symptoms reportedly include Paloma Faith’s nightly ritual of declaring “Free Palestine” to her infant children as part of their bedtime routine.

In my quest for an explanation for this roaring epidemic of PDS and CPDS on Planet Showbiz – apart from blinding stupidity or plain old-fashioned Jew-hate –  I turned to epidemiology. As I’m sure you know, that is the “study and analysis of the spread and incidence of disease”. And as a key aspect of epidemiological research is to look for “vectors” or “living organisms that spread infection within a defined population” – in for example, a film set, a TV location, or in a theatre – I thought it could be helpful here. (It could also include a Tour Bus, but I’ll leave others to look at the epidemic in the music biz.)

Before looking for  the “vectors” for PDS/CPDS, I followed the basic epidemiological principle and looked first for the “index” and “primary” cases and then for those infected by them, the “secondary cases”. Obviously, as I am looking at the incidence and spread among actors and “creatives”, I ignored medical records and turned instead to the industry bible, IMDb, for clues to those inciting Israel-hate and its inseparable companion, Jew-hate.

In this scenario, we’ll call the “index” or “primary” case “Actor A”. He or she arrives on the set/location/theatre/whatever already infected with PDS or CPDS – perhaps after a tour of the West Bank (onwhat I have previously dubbed the “Mint Tea and Sympathy” Tour) where he or she was shown everything that fitted the fake narrative while every scrap of reality and historical truth which reveals it to be an illusion was ignored.

It’s easy to see how, amid the camaraderie, networking and shmoozing on a movie set, Actor A could easily pass on the pathogen to actors B, C and D (the “secondaries”) who are vulnerable to infection because they lack the immunity supplied by knowledge of the documented history and geo-politics of the region, or the maturity to think critically. Actors B, C and D – now in the critical, early, highly infectious stage of PDS – and actor A, all move to another set/location/whatever, and pass PDS – or its chronic variant – on to other actors, creatives, crew, etc who also lack the necessary immunity.

I would not blame you for dismissing this as the product of an overheated imagination, but before doing so, please consider the interesting coincidences my preliminary epidemiological research threw up suggesting evidence – admittedly circumstantial – that might explain this epidemic of Palestine Delusion Syndrome (and its chronic variant) raging across the entertainment industry.

Also, I worry that naming these passionate Palestine partisans and pointing out the overlaps between them and cast members who later become passionate Palestine partisans, could seem “libellous”. But then again, if these devoted partisans for Palestine sincerely believe their cause is righteous, how can it be “libellous” to point out that they support the cause and have encouraged others to do so?

That said, as I fervently wish to avoid being accused of libel, I will merely report the simple facts I discovered: that in 1980 Susan Sarandon and the late Alan Rickman, who have both frequently and publicly expressed devotion to the Palestinian cause, were both in the cast of The January Man. Of course, I have no way of knowing if they met during the shooting of the film, and if they did, whether Middle East geo-politics was discussed. And if it was, whether both were already passionately partisan and simply reinforced one another’s opinions, or if one ignited a passion for Palestine in the other.

In 2014, Sarandon also worked with the another well-known “champion” of the Palestinian “cause” – British actor Mark Rylance, on We Are Many. But while it would suit my thesis to speculate that Rylance acquired his Palestinian partisanship from Sarandon – or from that other devoted Palestine partisan, Ken Loach, who also worked on the film – Rylance’s activism began earlier. It seems to have developed from a broader, luvvie Left-wing activism that led to his involvement in a campaign to prevent Israel’s Habimah Theatre from performing at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2012, and led him to make a statement that performing in “the settlements” was “an act of provocation and disrespect.” But, who knows if proximity to Sarandon and Loach in 2014 led him to sign the Artists’ Pledge for Palestine in 2015 or led to his support for the Palestinian Ashtar theatre, or to become more vocal in his criticism of Israel.

Possible further validation for my “vector” thesis comes from screen actor Mark Ruffalo. The earliest Palestinian activism I could find for him was shortly after he worked on “Iron Man 3” in 2013. where his co-star was Aussie actor Guy Pearce.

Pearce, who has a well-documented history of pro-Palestine activism, had worked previously with Danish actor Viggo Mortensen who has been strongly pro-Palestinian and a vocal critic of Israel since at least the late noughties. In 2009, he was one of the high-profile signatories to a protest at the Toronto International Film Festival over its City to City programme, linking Toronto with Tel Aviv.  The declaration he signed argued that the link “risked whitewashing” the “Israeli occupation” and “marginalising Palestinian voices.” Tel Aviv is notably not in the Palestinian territories. Other signatories included Naomi Klein and Ken Loach.

But, frankly, PDS and CPDS in Hollywood is making my brain hurt, so I will leave further research to others, while I focus on the British epidemic starting with the Harry Potter franchise as so many acute cases seem traceable to the eight wizarding movies shot at Leavesden in the first decade of the century.

In view of JK Rowling’s courageous and resolute resistance to PDS, it is somewhat ironic that the Potter franchise appears to be the source of so much toxic anti-Israelism in British entertainment, but epidemiologists just go with the evidence. The obvious “index” or “primary” here, is the devoted Palestine partisan Alan Rickman, who was in all eight films as Professor Severus Snape.

As we have previously observed, the actor – who died in 2016 – was a devout, long-term pro-Palestine activist (AKA sufferer of Chronic PDS). We don’t know if – as I posited earlier –  this condition developed due to contact with Sarandon on The January Man in 1980, but we do know that he was becoming more actively engaged with the Palestinian “cause” throughout the decade, 2000 to 2010, when the Harry Potter movies were being shot

We know that he began developing his piece of Palestinian agit-prop in 2003 because after his death, Katharine Viner – who worked with him on the Palestinian agit-prop and is now editor of The Guardian –  wrote that  in March 2003, “Alan turned up at London’s Royal Court theatre, clutching an edition of The Guardian’s G2 section” with its feature on Rachel Corrie, the American student sucked into Palestinian activism who tragically died in Gaza.

Further evidence of Rickman’s growing involvement in Palestinian activism during the decade of Potter films again comes from Viner, who states that in June 2004 he “connected” with the Tom Hurndall campaign and “again” met the Corrie family “at a dinner for the “Tom Hurndall Foundation”.  Hurndall was a British “volunteer” who, like Corrie,  tragically died in Gaza after also being sucked into activism by the Soviet-fabricated Palestinian narrative and jaw-dropping selectivity with facts. We should not forget that these tragic deaths provided a PR bonanza for the Palestinian cause. As well as a “Foundation”, it produced a piece of agit-prop that was not only staged at the Royal Court in 2005 (and by schools and am-dram societies many times since), but would have definitely been noticed by everyone on the Harry Potter set.

Although Rickman remains the likely “index” or “primary” for PDS among the Potter cast, there were other cast members with strong pro-Palestine views who would have been around to endorse his views. They include Julie Christie, who appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Her Palestinian “advocacy” goes way back to 1992 when she travelled to the Palestinian territories, took that “Mint Tea and Sympathy Tour”, gave a press conference in East Jerusalem and subsequently became a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Also, of course, Emma Thompson who appeared in three Harry Potter films and has a long, well-documented history of expressing criticism of Israel and support for Palestinians. She also worked with Rickman on Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

Also on the Leavesden set, of course, was Miriam Margolyes, who appeared in three Harry Potter films, and also came to the studio with a well-documented history of support for the Palestinian “cause”, or what might be diagnosed as “Chronic PDS”.  And then there was also the late Maggie Smith, who was in all eight Harry Potter films and was closely associated with the “Freedom Theatre” in Jenin on the West Bank which suggests a profound passion for the Palestinian cause.

With so many leading members of the cast dedicated to the Palestinian cause, perhaps we should not be surprised that other cast members, who either lacked the maturity to think critically or were without the immunity provided by knowledge of the actual history, exhibited symptoms of PDS. There was that tweet criticising Israel from Emma Watson who played Hermione Granger in all eight films; a graphic shared by Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) saying that what was happening “in Palestine” was “settler colonialism” and “ethnic cleansing”; many posts protesting about “Gaza” from Katie Leung (Cho Chang); and James Phelps (Fred Weasley) expressing criticism of the “conduct of the IDF” and of “the Israeli government’s intentions”.

More evidence for my “vector” theory is to be found in the fact that Dame Maggie famously worked on Downton Abbey, where fellow cast-members included Hugh Bonneville who became so impassioned on “Palestine” that he interrupted an interview at the Downton Abbey Grand Finale premiere in September 2025 to explicitly condemn Israel over its Gaza operation. As well as working with Dame Maggie, he had previously worked with another passionate Palestine partisan. He worked with Tilda Swinton in 2019 in The Personal History of David Copperfield.

Swinton’s own Palestine partisanship probably goes back to the 1980s when she starred in a film called Friendship’s Death. Set against the backdrop of the 1970 Black September conflict in Jordan, “the occupation” and Palestinian “refugees” are central to the story-line –  and I’m guessing not in a way that reflects the historical reality or kindly on Israel. Other actors she has worked with – besides Bonneville – who have subsequently embraced the Palestinian cause include Joaquin Phoenix and Brian Cox. She worked with Phoenix in 2011 in We Need to Talk About Kevin. He was one of the high-profile signatories of the Artists4Ceasefire letter to former President Joe Biden. She worked with Cox in 2002 on Adaptation. Cox’s involvement in Palestinian activism, led to, among other things, the signing of an open letter “Against Apartheid”.

In pursuit of my thesis, I also took a look at another British actor outside the Potter franchise, Harriet Walter. She worked with both Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility in 1995; with Miriam Margolyes in The Wedding Video in 2012; and perhaps most tellingly, with Julie Christie in the West End production of Old Times in 1995, not long after Christie’s1992 visit to the Palestinian territories.

So if you are looking for an explanation for why so many people on Planet Show-biz – including some Jews – have decided to abandon reality and embrace the Palestine Delusion and in some cases align with Jew-haters, please consider the possibility of indoctrination via shmoozing on set. The evidence wouldn’t stand up in court, but it looks pretty convincing to me.