Maureen Lipman has branded Miriam Margolyes as a ‘shock jock’ and ‘self-publicist’ over her views on the war in Gaza.
The Coronation Street actress, 79, criticised Harry Potter star Miriam, 84, who described Israel as a ‘vicious’ and ‘genocidal’ nation in an interview with The Big Issue.
Miriam, who is of Jewish heritage, said: ‘I was born in ’41, at the height of the Holocaust. I cannot bear to think that my people are doing exactly the same thing to another nation.’
She also claimed Hitler had changed Jewish people ‘from being compassionate and caring… into this vicious, genocidal, nationalist nation, pursuing and killing women and children.’
Maureen, who is also Jewish, criticised Miriam’s comments in her latest column in The Spectator.
The actress said she recently had an email exchange with a fellow Jewish actress who expressed her horror at the Israeli Defense Forces’ actions in Gaza.
Maureen Lipman has branded Miriam Margolyes as a ‘shock jock’ and ‘self-publicist’ over her views on the war in Gaza
The Coronation Street actress, 79, criticised Harry Potter star Miriam, 84, who described Israel as a ‘vicious’ and ‘genocidal’ nation in an interview with The Big Issue
Maureen wrote: ‘At least her opinion is thought-through, measured and civil.
‘Miriam Margolyes, on the other hand, is a shock jock, a potty-mouthed controversialist and self-publicist, so I’m uninterested in her latest PR spalsh comparing Israelis to Nazis and the Gazan war to the Holocaust.’
Miriam took to her Facebook page on Thursday and shared a photo of Maureen’s column and simply wrote: ‘From Dame Maureen Lipman (alas!)’
In her Big Issue interview, Miriam also called for all Jewis people to ‘shout, beg, scream for a ceasefire’.
Her comments about the war and Israel were strongly criticised by groups like the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) who called for her OBE to be rescinded.
However, she did receive support for her comments on social media.
Earlier this month, Miriam revealed her plans to quit the UK for Italy to live with her long-term partner Heather Sutherland for the very first time – after her serious health woes.
The actress has been in a relationship with Heather, 82, for 57 years and the pair wish to move to Tuscany together.
Maureen said Miriam is a ‘a shock jock, a potty-mouthed controversialist and self-publicist, so I’m uninterested in her latest PR spalsh comparing Israelis to Nazis’
Miriam took to her Facebook page on Thursday and shared a photo of Maureen’s column and simply wrote: ‘From Dame Maureen Lipman (alas!)’
They currently live separately. Miriam is based in London while historian Heather lives in Amsterdam.
Miriam bought a home near Siena in Italy back in 1973 and they will both soon reside there permanently.
Miriam told The Observer of the move: ‘The world around us has lost its charm. And we just want each other in a beautiful place which we know.
‘We can toddle along and laugh and just quietly subside into old age. But together. We’re here for such a short time. It’s gone so fast. Mentally, I’m still fairly crisp.’
Miriam met Heather through a mutual friend while working on a BBC radio drama after graduating from the University of Cambridge.
