Veteran British-Jewish actress, Miriam Margolyes, said that renowned English author and champion of the underdog Charles Dickens would have been "pro-Palestinian" during a literature event hosted by the UK's Queen Camila.
The 83-year-old actress, best known for her role in the Harry Potter series, made the comments at the Queen's Reading Room event over the weekend at Hampton Court Palace, London, where she did theatrical readings of several famed Dickens passages, according to The Independent.
Margolyes said Dickens, known for his social commentary about the plight of the poor in Victorian England via works such as Oliver Twist, would have naturally sympathised with the Palestinian cause.
"And don’t worry, I am very political and I am very pro-Palestine," she said at the 'What The Dickens! Miriam Margolyes and Friends session'.
"I just want that to be very clear, and so would Dickens if he was (here)."
Israel's war on Gaza continues to rage with at least 37,124 Palestinians killed since October 7, mostly women and children.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has been described as a genocide, given the high civilian death toll, the indiscriminate bombing and the deliberate hindering of humanitarian aid deliveries.
Margolyes did theatrical Dickens-associated readings alongside other actors including Karl Collins, Miranda actor Patricia Hodge, Tipping The Velvet star Rachael Stirling and Game Of Thrones actor Julian Glover.
The actress is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza.
In April, the actress called on fellow Jews to "shout, beg, scream" for a ceasefire in Gaza, as the number of civilians killed continues to rise.
She told the Jewish Council of Australia that she was "ashamed of Israel" and urged fellow Jews to do the "right thing".
In March, the British-Australian actress called for the public to end the carnage in Gaza on 'The Project' programme, saying: "Because being Jewish, we always have to say what we are. Are we for Israel or against Israel? I’m only for humanity. Ceasefire. Ceasefire."
Margolyes has been a signatory of several letters calling fora ceasefire in Gaza on behalf of Artists for Palestine UK while she condemned the killing of renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022, and called for a cultural boycott of Israeli institutions in 2015.
