Golden Globes expels Egyptian critic accused of antisemitism

The Egyptian movie critic’s Jew-hating tweets included one about ‘Zionist-American plots’ for Islamic terrorism.

By World Israel News Staff

The Golden Globes announced the expulsion of an Egyptian movie critic over the weekend, following the discovery of old tweets voicing anti-Israel and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

In one such tweet from 2013, Howaidy Hamdy states that, “Hollywood is the Zionists’ stronghold” in which “most films” are “oriented and biased.”

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Arabic-language critic described the movie World War Z, part of which takes place in Israel and features the Mossad fighting off a deadly zombie invasion, as a “repulsive thing.”

Hamdy and several others were at the forefront of a CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis), a pro-Israel advocacy group, investigation over the summer.

CAMERA said that in another Arabic-language tweet, Hamdy had written: “Behind every Islamist terrorist there is a Zionist-American plot that moves him.” The group further criticized Hamdy for her reviews of a Palestinian movie, in which she appears to praise terrorist groups.

Hamdy had joined the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 2021 following allegations that the prestigious group was lacking in diversity.

The Hollywood Foreign Press did not offer an immediate explanation of why Hamdy and two others were thrown off, other than saying  that the three had “violated” the group’s code of conduct.

The award isn’t a stranger to controversy. In 2018, Jewish political pundit Ben Shapiro took issue with Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech, in which she encouraged women to “speak your truth.”

In 2017, a number of celebrities slammed then-President Donald Trump at the award. Some of the attacks were so personal and used such foul language, that Trump offered a response.

AntisemitismEgyptGolden Globe Awards