Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes has hit back at growing calls for her OBE to be revoked, insisting she refuses to be silenced after openly condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The 84-year-old actress, who received her OBE in 2002 for Services to Drama, sparked controversy after urging fellow Jews to “shout, beg, scream for a ceasefire” and expressing that she was “ashamed of Israel” for defending its military campaign. In an interview, she compared the Israeli government’s actions to those of the Nazis during the Holocaust, saying she “cannot bear” to see her people “doing exactly the same thing to another nation.”
Critics, including the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), branded her remarks “repugnant” and vowed to ask the Honours Forfeiture Committee and BAFTA to remove her titles. But Miriam has doubled down, telling The Guardian: “If you have a chance to make an impact for good, to change things, then you should. People are afraid of being cancelled. You can’t cancel me!”
In a BBC interview, she dismissed the notion of being silenced, adding: “Everybody should be able to express their opinion. What Israel is doing to Palestine is wicked and totally against our upbringing as Jews.” She also condemned Hamas’s actions on October 7, calling the situation in Gaza “shocking, embarrassing and wicked.”
Despite mounting pressure, Miriam insists she will not back down from her views, saying she feels a moral responsibility to speak out, no matter the consequences.
