Over 1,000 authors, writers pledge to culturally boycott “Israel”
SANAA, Nov. 02 (YPA) – More than 1,000 professional authors and writers have signed a pledge to boycott cultural institutions of the Israeli occupation, or institutions and entities that support, because of the genocidal war taking place in the Gaza Strip.
The signatories of the pledge that The Guardian published said they would not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights,” including operating “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewashing and justifying the occupation, apartheid or genocide.”
Among the signatories are Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner and Arundhati Roy, who join nearly 1,000 figures in the book industry who have pledged not to work with any publisher, festival, or publication “complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights.”
Institutions that do not publicly recognize “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law” will also be boycotted.
The campaign for a cultural boycott was called for by the Palestine Festival of Literature (known as PalFest), which runs an annual festival with free public events in cities across Palestine, along with the campaign groups Books Against Genocide, Book Workers for a Free Palestine, Publishers for Palestine, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and Fossil Fuel Abandonment.
“The Israeli occupation has killed “at least 43,362” Palestinians in Gaza since October, and this comes after “75 years of displacement, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, the pledge added.
“We cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without questioning their connection to apartheid and displacement,” it continues, noting that “countless authors” have taken the same stand against apartheid in South Africa.”
In response to this pledge, the British Lawyers for Israel organization said “this boycott is clearly discriminatory against Israelis,” claiming that “there are legal risks associated with participating in the boycott.”
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