"
This is how you know the Jews are always where they are
."
Actor and talk show host Jon Stewart is very angry with JK Rowling.
In his podcast
The Problem With Jon Stewart
, the former host of the
Daily Show
got angry with a very specific problem in the Harry Potter film series.
To read also
Harry Potter:
JK Rowling participates (very discreetly) in the special episode
According to him, the Goblins of the Gringotts bank would look too much like the caricatures made in the book
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
,
released in 1903. The work is then presented as a plan to conquer the world planned by the Jews and the Freemasons .
Wrong from A to Z, it was nevertheless a bestseller when it was released, and would be cited a few decades later by Adolf Hitler in his anti-Semitic pamphlet
Mein Kampf
.
Jon Stewart explains that “
when talking to people this is what I say: Have you ever seen a
Harry Potter movie
?
Have you ever seen the scenes from Gringotts Bank?
Do you know what the people who run the bank are?
Jews !
"
The 59-year-old host also recounts a personal experience.
"
I show them the cartoons made in
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
, and they say,
'Oh, that's from Harry Potter!'
.
And I answer them:
"No, it's a caricature of a Jew from an anti-Semitic literary work
. "
"
He goes on to lament that "
JK Rowling thought,
' Can we ask these guys to run our bank?'
.
It's a wizarding world ... you can ride dragons, you can have a pet owl ... but who should run the bank?
The Jews.
"
Jon Stewart coaster
Faced with the media coverage taken by his statement, the host quickly reconsidered his words.
“I'm not accusing JK Rowling of being anti-Semitic.
She doesn't have to answer for anything.
I don't want the
Harry Potter movies
to be censored in any way.
It was a joking conversation.
Pull yourself together!
He defends himself.
Rather than JK Rowling, the fault would be on the ordinary anti-Semitism that runs through society, and the clichés still anchored in the collective unconscious.
“Some are so deeply rooted in society that they are practically invisible, even in a thoughtful process like making a film,”
he laments.
School withdraws JK Rowling's name
Jon Stewart certainly wants to spare JK Rowling one more controversy.
The novelist has seen her image largely degraded since a release deemed transphobic in June 2020. She has repeatedly repeated comments in the same style, alienating some of her fans, and causing hostility that has continued since.
Read also J.K.
Rowling, the bad trial
The Boswells School in Chelmsford, north London, recently decided to remove JK Rowling's name from one of its buildings. In question, the "
opinions on trans people
" of the creator of the sorcerer's apprentice. The school principal explained that he wanted to create "
a vibrant, inclusive and democratic school community, where we encourage students to become independent and confident citizens."
The change would have taken place in the fall. "
We revised and renamed one of the school buildings following numerous requests from students and staff, as well as a vote from the whole school",
detailed the director, according to France Info.
The building now bears the name of British athlete Kelly Holmes, Olympic athletics champion over 800 and 1500m at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.