Two large Israeli bookstore chains announced on November 4 that they will not be selling author Sally Rooney’s new novel after she said she would only allow her book to be published by publishers that comply with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In an October 12 statement, Rooney said that it didn’t feel “right” for her “to accept a new contract with an Israeli company that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid” for her book “Beautiful World, Where Are You?” “The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I would be very pleased to do so. In the meantime I would like to express once again my solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice and equality.”
The two Israeli bookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim, told The Times of Israel that they will be pulling Rooney’s book from their stores and their websites. The two bookstores have more than 200 stores throughout the Jewish State.
“The Steimatzky chain is a literary stage and a warm and embracing home for any literary work with a love of the written word,” the bookstore said in a statement to The Guardian. “From the moment the subject was brought to our attention, as an immediate step, we removed the books from the site.”
Yoseph Haddad, an Israeli-Arab activist who heads Together – Vouch for Each Other, told The Guardian that he was “very pleased” that his lobbying efforts to get the bookstores to pull Rooney’s book succeeded.
Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, tweeted praise for the Israeli bookstores. “Good! Let’s boycott the boycotters!”
Good! Let’s boycott the boycotters! #SallyRooney https://t.co/M5n85KnjgH
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) November 5, 2021
Michael Kelly, editor for The Irish Catholic, tweeted, “I hate this kind of book banning…but it’s the inevitable consequence of Ms. Rooney’s boycott.”
I hate this kind of book banning…but it’s the inevitable consequence of Ms Rooney’s boycott. https://t.co/hHO28v9W7s
— Michael Kelly ن (@MichaelKellyIC) November 5, 2021
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel told The Guardian that they are continuing to support Rooney.
