More than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals, including Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy, and Rachel Kushner, have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions accused of complicity or silence in the face of Palestinian oppression. The letter, organized by the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) and allied advocacy groups, commits signatories to refuse collaboration with Israeli publishers, literary agencies, and festivals that are perceived as violating Palestinian rights.
The pledge specifically targets institutions that operate discriminatory practices, justify Israel’s policies, or have failed to acknowledge the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law.” According to the letter, such cultural bodies play a role in normalizing what the authors describe as injustices faced by Palestinians.
“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 statement opens. It goes on to claim that at least 43,362 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since last October, which it says follows “75 years of displacement, ethnic cleansing and apartheid,” it added.
The letter underscores the role culture has played in “obfuscating, disguising and art-washing the dispossession and oppression of millions of Palestinians for decades,” often in concert with the state. It urges industry professionals to scrutinize their engagements with Israeli institutions. “We cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without interrogating their relationship to apartheid and displacement,” the statement reads, drawing parallels with the actions of authors who opposed apartheid in South Africa. The appeal ends with a call for others in the literary community to join the pledge.
The initiative has sparked pushback from pro-Israel groups. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), an association that supports Israel, sent a letter to the Society of Authors, the Publishers Association, and the Independent Publishers Guild, arguing that the boycott is discriminatory. “This boycott is plainly discriminatory against Israelis. The authors do not impose similar conditions on publishers, festivals, literary agencies or publications of any other nationality,” UKLFI stated, adding that they believe there may be legal repercussions for those participating in the boycott.
In reaction to the UKLFI’s position, Omar Robert Hamilton, co-founder and current director of PalFest, described their response as lacking substance. “This letter is only notable for its moral bankruptcy and proves that Israel’s apologists have nothing to say,” he remarked.
Sally Rooney, best known for Normal People and her recent novel Intermezzo, has been vocal about her support for Palestinian rights. In 2021, she notably declined to sell Hebrew translation rights for her book Beautiful World, Where Are You to an Israeli publisher. Similarly, Arundhati Roy and Rachel Kushner have long criticized Israeli policies. During her acceptance of the PEN Pinter Prize earlier this month, Roy highlighted the situation in Gaza and announced that she would donate her prize money to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
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