LONDON, Oct 29 — Authors Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner and Arundhati Roy are among over 1,000 writers and publishing industry figures who have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions they say are “complicit” in Palestinian rights violations.
The letter, organised by the Palestine festival of literature (PalFest), states that the signatories will avoid partnerships with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies, and publications that allegedly support or fail to oppose “the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians.”
The Guardian reported that the campaign also targets institutions which it claims operate “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewash and justify Israel’s occupation, apartheid or genocide.”
“We, as writers, publishers, literary festival workers, and other book workers, publish this letter as we face the most profound moral, political and cultural crisis of the 21st century,” the letter begins.
The signatories argue that Israeli cultural institutions, “often working directly with the state, have been crucial in obfuscating, disguising, and art-washing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades.”
According to the letter, writers and publishing professionals have a responsibility to challenge institutions that might support such injustices.
“We cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without interrogating their relationship to apartheid and displacement,” it states, pointing out that numerous authors boycotted cultural institutions during apartheid in South Africa.
The statement ends by urging more of their peers to join the boycott pledge.
The Fossil Free Books campaign, a group advocating against investments in companies linked to Israel and fossil fuels, has voiced support for the initiative.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a pro-Israel legal group, has responded with its own letter addressed to the Society of Authors, the Publishers Association and the Independent Publishers Guild.
UKLFI argues that the boycott is discriminatory against Israelis and does not extend similar conditions to other nationalities, suggesting that there may be legal risks involved in supporting the pledge.
PalFest co-founder Omar Robert Hamilton has defended the boycott, describing UKLFI’s stance as “only notable for its moral bankruptcy” and asserting, “Israel’s apologists have nothing to say.”
Rooney, known for her support of Palestinian rights, notably refused in 2021 to sell Hebrew translation rights for her novel Beautiful World, Where Are You to an Israeli publisher.
Roy and Kushner have also spoken against Israeli policies, with Roy recently using her PEN Pinter prize acceptance speech to discuss Gaza as well as dedicating the prize money to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund earlier this month.
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