Miriam Margolyes praises people of Ireland for Gaza support during Late Late Show

The award-winning actress also branded herself “unapologetically woke”

Miriam Margolyes praised the people of Ireland for their support of Gaza and branded herself “unapologetically woke” while appearing on The Late Late Show.

The award-winning actress known for her roles across film, TV, and stage was the first guest on Friday’s show to promote her new book, ‘The Little Book of Miriam’, with host Patrick Kielty asking about her long-running support of the people of Gaza.

The Co Down man asked why she feels it’s important to speak out about the situation in Gaza, with Miriam saying: “It’s important because I’m Jewish. It’s very important people realise all Jewish people are not killers.”

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She continued: “It’s just a small section of the Israeli people that are like that, not Jewish people. And I want that to be known, understood, and be clear.

“What happened in Gaza was utterly wrong and wicked. The Hamas attack was terrible, of course it was, but it came from 70 years of oppression, of Israelis being horrible.

“I saw it myself, I was there in Israel and I saw it. I saw how they treated Palestinians and it’s wrong. What happened in Gaza was wicked and wrong, and bless you in Ireland who made wonderful demonstrations in their favour to help them feel they were not alone.

“I’m shocked at the way it took so long for the international community to respond to what was going on.”

Miriam has previously spoken about losing a lot of family and friends over the situation, with Patrick asking how difficult that was for her.

She said: “It hurts when people you’re fond of don’t want to talk to you anymore because they feel you’re a traitor, and they have to do what they do, and I have to accept it. I mustn’t hate them, I must try to understand, because if I hate, I’m as bad as they are, and I don’t want to be.”

Miriam then described herself as “unapologetically woke,” adding: “I love being a lesbian, I’m not going to apologise for that. It’s great fun!”

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