J.K. Rowling is Surprisingly Good at Calling Out Anti-Semitism

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, is using her large social media following (14.4 million followers on Twitter) for a surprising purpose: to call out anti-Semitism. Somehow, in 2018, J.K. Rowling has been one of the staunchest allies to Jews.

Why do Jews need an ally, you may ask. Well, one, we always need allies. And two, anti-Semitism has reached scary levels across the globe, but especially in Britain. This is mainly due to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, who have refused to denounce anti-Semitism in their ranks.

(Here’s a quick primer on the current anti-Semitism issues in Britain. Since we published that in April, however, things have gotten much worse. Like, many Jews are considering leaving Britain.)

Now, over 85% of British Jews believe Corbyn to be anti-Semitic, less than 10% would consider voting for Labour, and 40% of British Jews would consider leaving the country if Corbyn became Prime Minister. Corbyn’s supporters see a “Zionist” conspiracy against him.

So where does our problematic fave J.K. Rowling come in? In April, she first started tweeting about anti-Semitism.

As JTA reported in April, she gave her followers a “master class in identifying anti-Semitism,” and it was magical (get it??).

Since then, Rowling has continued to tweet about anti-Semitism. In late August, she got into a debate with a fellow British writer, Simon Maginn, over the issue.

In a series of tweets, she called him out for demanding Jews to explain how they feel.

And in her latest Twitter crusade in bringing attention to the plight of British Jews, she quote-tweeted a thread from a British Jew with the message, “This thread is the perfect litmus test. If you can read it without empathy for the writer’s pain and fear; if you immediately assume an agenda; if, above all, your response to the distress of a British Jew is to shrug and talk about the Israeli government, then you test positive.”

Many have taken notice of Rowling’s dedication to breaking down anti-Semitism, including Tablet writer Yair Rosenberg:

https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1040607441245876224

She also consistently shares the anti-Semitic comments she gets, and calls them out.

Honestly, go J.K. Rowling!

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