Israeli bookshops cancel Rooney in reverse boycott
TWO OF Israel’s biggest bookshop chains have stopped selling work by Sally Rooney in the wake of her refusal to have her new novel translated into Hebrew.
Steimatzky and Tzomet Sefarim have both taken books by the bestselling Irish writer off the shelves of their 200-plus retail outlets and also removed them from sale online.
The decision comes after Ms Rooney, 30, followed the demands of the proPalestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for a boycott of Israel. It emerged last month that she had declined to have Beautiful World, Where Are You published in Hebrew by Israeli imprint Modan, which had translated her previous two novels, Conversations With Friends and Normal People.
At the time, she said: “For the moment, I have chosen not to sell these translation rights to an Israeli-based publishing house.” She explained: “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.”
After a furious reaction, Ms Rooney said “The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available” but only “if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the
BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines”. Pro-Israel campaigners have questioned where Ms Rooney will find a Hebrew translator outside Israel.
Rooney’s decision was condemned by Israel’s Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai, who described “the cultural boycott” as “antisemitism in a new guise”.
But sales of Ms Rooney’s work have risen in Palestinian bookshops. The manager of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, Ahmad Muna, told AFP he had had to put in a new order for her books because of increased demand.
Modan Publishing House said they will continue to sell Ms Rooney’s books despite her support for BDS. A company spokeswoman said: “We do not support a cultural boycott, and therefore we will continue to sell her works as usual.”