AUTHOR Sally Rooney has clarified her decision not to sell the translation rights for her book Beautiful World, Where Are You to an Israeli publishing house.
The acclaimed Irish author released a statement saying she had been "very proud" to have her previous novels translated into Hebrew.
She went on: “I would like to thank everyone involved in the publication of those books for supporting my work. Likewise, it would be an honour for me to have my latest novel translated into Hebrew and available to Hebrew-language readers.
“But for the moment, I have chosen not to sell these translation rights to an Israeli-based publishing house.”
Rooney, the author behind popular titles like Normal People and Conversations With Friends, added: “Earlier this year, the international campaign group Human Rights Watch published a report entitled A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities And The Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.
“That report, coming on the heels of a similarly damning report by Israel’s most prominent human rights organization B’Tselem, confirmed what Palestinian human rights groups have long been saying: Israel’s system of racial domination and segregation against Palestinians meets the definition of apartheid under international law.”
The author pointed out that the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement is calling for an "economic and cultural boycott of complicit Israeli companies and institutions in response to the apartheid system and other grave human rights violations".
“I understand that not everyone will agree with my decision, but I simply do not feel it would be right for me under the present circumstances to 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.
“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 will be very pleased and proud 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. Thank you.”
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