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J.K. Rowling Owns Twitter Users Attempting to Trivialize Anti-Semitism

While the UK’s Labour Party has been mired in controversy over allegations of widespread anti-Semitism within the party’s ranks, a rift on social media has been unfolding amid celebrations of Israel's 70th anniversary as a state.
Sputnik

British novelist and producer J.K. Rowling entered a Twitter spat on Thursday, triggered by a user on the social media platform insisting that “Judaism is a religion not a race.” The renowned author – who is not a Jew herself – took apart this argument by pointing out that atheist Jews weren’t “exempted from wearing the yellow star.”

'Anti-Semitism Isn't Prevalent in Labour' , But Present in UK Society - Activist
In less than 24 hours, her response received over 10,000 likes and close to 2,500 retweets.

The novelist went on to respond to a user who claimed that arguing against anti-Semitism is “culturally insensitive to Muslims.”

“When you only understand bigotry in terms of "pick a team" and get a mind- boggling response,” J.K. Rowling tweeted in response to the remark.

She made good use of a GIF featuring Hugh Laurie captioned “The 'Arabs are Semitic too' hot takes have arrived #Antisemitism,” responding to a gaggle of users who argued that Arabs can’t be anti-Semitic because they are Semites themselves.

J.K. Rowling concluded her defense by posting a screenshot of the definition of anti-Semitism, captioned “Split hairs. Debate etymology. Gloss over the abuse of your fellow citizens by attacking the actions of another country's government. Would your response to any other form of racism or bigotry be to squirm, deflect or justify?”

On a lighter note, she almost confused a tweet by one of her followers which reads “How wonderful that you’re experiencing it for the first time! Enjoy!”

She initially mistook the tweet for telling her to enjoy her first exposure to anti-Semitism when the user was actually tweeting to another follower who had just finished reading Rowling’s Harry Potter series for the first time.

READ MORE: Israeli Labor Party Suspends Ties With Corbyn, Claims He Sanctions Anti-Semitism

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