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British Jewish Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman Responds to ‘Downton Abbey’ Star ‘Jew-Baiting’ Her on X About Israel
Tracy-Ann Oberman attends the WhatsOnStage Awards 2024 at The London Palladium in West End, London. Photo: Cat Morley / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
British Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman took to X/Twitter this week to clap back at fellow actress and Downton Abbey star Samantha Bond after the latter furiously criticized Oberman’s response to the deaths of aid workers in the Gaza Strip in a now-deleted post on the social media platform.
An Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven people, including three Brits, who were traveling in an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip for the charity World Central Kitchen. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike “unintentionally” killed the aid workers and a full investigation was being conducted. On Friday, the Israeli military released the results of the inquiry, finding that forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen during the incident. Israel this week has apologized for the misidentification, dismissed two officers, and formally reprimanded senior commanders.
On Tuesday, Bond — who played Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films — tagged Oberman in a since-deleted post on X and asked the latter, “What is your response to Israel’s action today! A mistake? 7 people dead! Trying to feed the starving? X.” The tweet was posted in response to Oberman’s pinned tweet from January promoting a new adaption of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in London, in which she stars as a female Shylock.
Then on Wednesday, Bond messaged Oberman again, this time writing a “whole-hearted apology” for her remarks a day earlier. “Like many I am heartbroken and saddened by the ongoing lives lost, both in Israel and Gaza, and the further distressing news yesterday of those aid workers’ lives lost,” she told Oberman. “Again, my apologies.”
“You’ve known me for over 30 years,” Bond added. “You k now [sic] I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic.”
However, Oberman was unsatisfied with Bond’s handling of the situation. She called out the actress for publicizing the matter on social media as opposed to discussing it with her privately offline.
“Yes, I have known you for over 30 years @SamanthaBond which is why I am deeply shocked that you are STILL doing this on social media and not contacting me directly on my phone number that you have had for 30 years,” Oberman told Bond in a post on X.
“You have my phone number so I hope you do the right thing privately,” she additionally wrote in a separate post. “All our hearts have broken since Oct 7. But virtue signalling by attacking a colleague is never a good look. Put your sadness into something positive — like many of us do — opening dialogue and trying to bridge communities to bring peace & better understanding.”
Photo: Screenshot
Oberman concluded by saying thanks for all the support she received online from fellow X users, who were also upset and disappointed by Bond’s remarks. “I have the most incredible followers on here,” she wrote in a post on X. “Thank you. For the support, laughs, love and … well everything x.”
The post British Jewish Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman Responds to ‘Downton Abbey’ Star ‘Jew-Baiting’ Her on X About Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.