Jon Stewart sticking the knife in to JKR over "Jewish" goblins

And as for the people now saying it doesn't matter anyway, Harry Potter is ours and nothing really to do with JKR anyway- possibly the most utterly delusional thing I've ever heard. Every word of that book, every little thing about the entire story came from the mind of JKR, she and the story are as inextricably linked as a man and his xy chromosomes.

Oh come on, he presented the Daily Show, he’s about as “unknown” in the US as Jonathan Ross is over here.

Well, I live in the U.K. - so no, I've never heard of him!

There's an enormous amount of content in the books and anyone could find things to misinterpret or criticise if they were so inclined. The anti-semitism thing is blowing up as a way to attack Rowling's feminism. TRAs are extremely quick to throw mud at feminists.

Looking at the comments section there doesn't appear to be a single one in agreement with this utter garbage.

This is simply an unknown/irrelevant comedian (I believe that's what he is supposed to be) knowing he will get a bit of attention if he bashes JKR. Sad.

I didn't particularly pick up anti-semitism from the books, but I did think the film representation of the goblins was a bit dodgy, and this was several years ago. And, as PP have said, there had already been a few concerns about the depiction of other ethnic minorities. JKR isn't the only author to have had such criticisms, though.

Silly, silly man.

I'm waiting for someone to spot the leprechauns at the Quidditch world cup.

I hasten to add that I'm Irish and was not offended by the Irish contingent, the leprechauns or Seamus and his family. Though I suppose I could pretend to be if I tried.

I can't access the New York Times article. Apparently 'Christopher Hitchens noted in The New York Times that the lightning bolt—the shape of the scar which Harry received as a result of Voldemort's curse, now considered to be emblematic of the series—is also the symbol of Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, a prominent group of Nazi sympathisers during the 1930s and 1940s.' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Harry_Potter

Surely he isn't implying that Harry was a fascist? I doubt Rowling had that symbolism in mind. At any rate, it was inflicted by Harry's arch-enemy Voldemort. HE was a fascist.

On another note, this was the mask that was made for Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-man film. It was scrapped as it was considered too scary for small children and uncomfortable for the actor wearing it. While it's not identical to the HP goblins, it has many similarities, including a very similar nose shape. It's considered to be more quintessentially Raimi-ish in it's design than the mask that was eventually used. Raimi is jewish and this was designed by his team.

Why on earth would jk position Grindelwald as a baddy if she were antisemitic? Do people not understand the whole dumbledore Vs Grindelwald thing is actually ww2?

I think the problem is that people treat Harry Potter like a religion, rather than what it is, a very readable children’s book about wizards written a few decades ago by a woman from Gloucestershire.

JKR's sketch and the antisemitic image they're comparing it to look nothing alike

They're both in black and white, but that's the only similarity.

Some people are saying that the Gringott film set had Nazi symbolism and Stars of David in it. Even if that were true, which it isn't, wouldn't that mean that the set designers, the producer, director, costume designers, actors and everyone else were happily collaborating in creating an anti-semitic film? Is that plausible? No.

Anti semitism is OK if it's from your beloved Rowling, isn't it?

You really need to look at the people you hold up as heroes. Most have unsavoury views on more than minority groups.

I think I was a Goblin when I was in brownies.

Emma Watson has also been called anti semitic because she expressed solidarity with disposessed Palestinians.

All you have to do these days is say you don't want Palestinians to be obliterated and you're an anti semite. It's the new witch hunt alongside the trans lobby.

Here we go, here is Christopher Hitchens in 2007, accusing her of anti-Semitism.

www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/books/review/Hitchens-t.html

Not new.

The antisemitic goblin stereotype was first brought up in the mid noughties in the New York Times. Way before this.

Some of us have long noticed that the name Cho Chang doesn't really make sense either.

These aren't 'made-up' accusations to bolster anti-trans claims and to dismiss them as such is inappropriate.

Now on the naughty step.

Well I see Emma doodah is not on the naughty step for supposedly supporting Palestine. I can’t keep up.

The complaints go years back, way before she made any GC comments.

JKR describes the goblins in the book as: (this is taken from HP wiki) Physical appearance
Goblins were short and fair-skinned, as they spent very little time outside. They had very long fingers and feet, dome-shaped heads and were slightly larger than house-elves. Griphook, one of the hundreds of goblins working at Gringotts, had a bald head, pointed nose, and pointed ears. Some had dark, slanted eyes, and some goblins even wore pointed hats.[4]

why are they referring to 'hooked noses'? I think anti-semitism is rife, personally, but cant see it here.

It's awful isn't it. Rowling based her ideas on old stories - traditionally, goblins were portrayed as greedy and obsessed with gold. Jewish individuals and organisations have been coming out to say that the Harry Potter goblins are NOT anti-semitic, and in fact Rowling uses a lot of anti-Nazi, anti-fascist themes and symbolism in her work (the Death Eaters are clearly fascists).

I did venture into one of these Twitter debates, but found the lack of logic, conspiracy thinking and pure hatefulness of the 'JKR is an anti-semite' crowd hard to take. Within two tweets they were questioning my (very innocuous) Twitter bio - I can understand why people don't want to engage with them.