Israeli bookstores pull Sally Rooney novels over boycott row

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Two of Israel’s largest bookstores have announced they will no longer stock books by author Sally Rooney after she refused to let her latest novel be translated into Hebrew by an Israeli publisher.

Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim, which together own about 200 stores in Israel, said they would remove her books from their shelves and online sites.

Last month the Irish author said she would not allow her newest title, Beautiful World, Where Are You?, to be translated into Hebrew by Modan, an Israeli publishing house.

The writer said her decision was taken out of solidarity with the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for governments to “cut trade, economic, and cultural relations” with the Jewish state.

While she said she was “proud” her previous two novels had been translated into Hebrew, she could not, she said, “accept a new contract with an Israeli company that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people”.

In May, 600 musicians, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, published an open letter asking fellow artists to refrain from performing in Israel until there is a “free Palestine”.

But the notion of a blanket cultural boycott remains controversial.

Speaking to The Independent, public diplomacy expert and BDS critic Ran Bar-Yoshafat said: “It’s very easy to boycott Israel because she won’t be losing money – Israel isn’t a market for books. It’s all a game as she has nothing to lose.

“I don’t believe she cares about human rights – if she did she would boycott Russia, China and Arab countries for example. She won’t do that because that is a gigantic market.”

Israel has claimed that the BDS is a movement motivated by antisemitism and has rejected apartheid comparisons.

Rooney has enjoyed huge success for her work, including critical acclaim for her second novel Normal People, which was adapted into a hugely successful TV series.