In letter, over 1,000 reject attempts ‘to boycott, scapegoat Jewish and Israeli authors’

A group of over 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industries have signed a letter rejecting attempts “to boycott, harass and scapegoat Jewish and Israeli authors and literary institutions.”

Their letter comes after some 1,000 authors and literary professionals signed a pledge to boycott Israeli cultural institutions. The signatories pledged not to work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights,” including “whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid, or genocide.”

The signatories rejecting the boycott pledge include Bernard Henri-Lévy, Lee Child, Herta Müller, Howard Jacobson, Yossi Klein Halevi, Elfriede Jelinek, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, Haim Saban and many more.

They declare that they “continue to be shocked and disappointed to see members of the literary community harass and ostracize their colleagues because they don’t share a one-sided narrative in response to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“Regardless of one’s views on the current conflict, boycotts of creatives and creative institutions simply create more divisiveness and foment further hatred,” they say.

“Israel is fighting existential wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, both US, UK, and European Union designated terrorist groups. The exclusion of anyone who doesn’t unilaterally condemn Israel is an inversion of morality and an obfuscation of reality.

“We call on our friends and colleagues worldwide to join us in expressing their support for Israeli and Jewish publishers, authors, and all book festivals, publishers, and literary agencies that refuse to capitulate to censorship based on identity or litmus tests.”