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Palestine Festival of Literature issues boycott letter to book trade as lawyers for Israel claim it is discriminatory
An open letter organised by the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) and circulated by Fossil Free Books has called on the publishing industry to boycott Israeli institutions that "have remained silent observers" to the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
The boycott letter—which is still open—has been signed by 445 writers, publishers, literary festival workers and other book workers. It asks signatories to pledge not to "cooperate with Israeli institutions including publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications".
In response to the letter, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), an association of lawyers supporting Israel, has sent a separate document to trade bodies and publishers, alleging that the "boycott is plainly discriminatory against Israelis".
Referencing the UK Equality Act 2021 and other anti-discrimination laws, UKLFI called on the Society of Authors (SoA), the Publishers Association (PA) and the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) to alert their members of "the legal risks in participating in, assisting or supporting the discriminatory boycott proposed by the authors of the letter".
The PalFest letter, seen by The Bookseller, references the "emergency" situation faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the "years of displacement" experienced by Palestinians. It claims that "culture has played an integral role in normalising these injustices".
In response to this, it has outlined that those who have signed the letter "will not co-operate with Israeli institutions" that are "complicit in violating Palestinian rights" or that "have never publicly recognised the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law".
In UKLFI’s letter to the industry, Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UKLFI, has accused the signatories of the PalFest letter of discrimination, saying that they "do not impose similar conditions on publishers, festivals, literary agencies or publications of any other nationality".
The Bookseller has contacted PalFest and Fossil Free Books for comment on the UKLFI letter.
