The literary fight against Jews and Zionists affects me, too.
I’m writing this specifically for those of you who aren’t tuned in to the vicious attacks against the Israeli (aka Jewish) literary world. I hope my readers will understand the dread we Jewish authors are living with as a result.
There’s a letter going around that singles out Israeli literary institutions, calling for a ban against them, signed by bestselling and award-winning authors. The institutions they want banned include publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications said to be “complicit in violating Palestinian rights.” I’m not going to name the authors here as they don’t deserve that honor, but it hurt, personally, to see some of the writers I’ve long admired on the list.
Wicked Son Press, who published my novel, BABYLON, recently had an ad rejected by Shelf Awareness for a book by esteemed author and philosopher, Bernard-Henri Lévy,. An ad Wicked Son was going to pay for. (And who knows better than I that Wicked Son doesn’t have excess funds for promotion – though of course, I don’t have the clout of a Bernard-Henri Lévy.)
Rejected why? Because the title, ISRAEL ALONE, contained the word “Israel.”
Shelf Awareness sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter for consumers on behalf of more than 250 independent bookstores, reaching 600,000 readers. Because the bookstores on their list cannot block advertised titles, the powers that be at Shelf Awareness were concerned that the mere world “Israel” in the title would trigger the people who sell books. Because of the current anti-Israel climate. Because they didn’t credit that the booksellers might see the book as an opportunity for discussion and discovery.
Hence they rejected the ad.
(These are just two of the most recent antisemitic literary actions taken in the last couple of years. There are more, believe me.)
A recent op-ed in the New York Times wonders how such actions serve the literary world. “If you believe that books have the power to change hearts and minds, why wouldn’t you try to use that power constructively instead of engaging in a boycott, to take advantage of cultural institutions to argue your case on behalf of the Palestinians?” the op-ed authors ask.
They also cite the many, many Israelis who are opposed to the current government and to this war that seems to be playing out without an end-game.
As an author whose next book, NAPOLEON’S MIRAGE, comes out in less than two weeks, I fear that this atmosphere of finger-pointing and sheer antisemitic hatred could affect my novel, too. A historical retelling of Napoleon’s failed military campaign in Egypt and Israel, the novel contains both Jewish and Muslim characters. I’ve long been concerned that this inclusivity could prove a problem. This despite my concerted efforts to be particularly sensitive to the Muslim point of view, hiring an Egyptian Muslim sensitivity reader to vet any references that could be misconstrued. (And this concern surfaced not now, during this period of illiberal and painful prejudice, but back when I was writing the book, more than two years ago.)
What has proved a hedge against despair of these and many more anti-Jewish literary efforts is the counter letter now circulating, calling for an end to cultural boycotts. More than a thousand of us – authors, journalists, publishers, and entertainers signed it – and my humble name appears somewhere on the list.
Some of the more culturally relevant names (and these I will include, with pride that I’m among their number) are: Lee Child (creator of Jack Reacher), Bernard Henri-Lévy (Philosopher and Author), Herta Müller (Author, Poet, and Nobel Prize Award Winner), Sir Simon Schama (Historian and Author), Howard Jacobson (Booker Prize-winning Author), Simon Sebag Montefiore (Historian and Author), Adam Gopnik (Writer), Yossi Klein Halevi (Author), David Mamet (Author & Pulitzer Prize Winner), Elfriede Jelinek (Author and Nobel Prize Award Winner), Harlan Coben (Author), along with entertainment leaders, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, Ozzy Osbourne, and Gene Simmons, (list derived from the Creative Community for Peace post).
My mother used to quote Mark Twain, who famously said, “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” Twain himself had been raised to disparage Jews, but he completely changed his attitude later in life, actually defending them against prejudice and harassment, and praising them for succeeding despite the towering odds stacked against them.
We Jews have always managed to outlast our enemies, and our culture has thrived throughout the centuries despite rampant and virulent antisemitism. I feel so many of those writers I admire who signed the letter calling for this ban against us have simply been misinformed and mislead by their harmful and factually vacant echo chambers. It’s my fervent hope that these writers will wake from this terrible, unjustified nightmare of Jew hatred and recognize that they are, unequivocally, on the wrong side of history.
Recent Comments