Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

By Ben Sales

Bestselling author Sally Rooney wont allow her recently published novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You? to be published in Hebrew because she supports a cultural boycott of Israel.

Like the acclaimed Irish authors first two books, Beautiful World explores the life and romance of intellectual, urbane millennials. It debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in September, following a publicity campaign that came on the heels of Rooneys popular second novel, Normal People, which was also adapted into a TV series.

That publicity campaign, however, will not be reaching Israel. The Hebrew-language publisher of Rooneys first two books, Modan Publishing House, toldHaaretzlast month that Rooney wont allow her new book to be published in Hebrew because she supports an Israel boycott. Rooneys agent confirmed the news to Haaretz.

Rooney, 30, has been open about her opposition to Israel. In July, soon after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Rooney was one of thousands of artists to sign aletteraccusing Israel of apartheid and calling for its international isolation. The letter called for an end to the support provided by global powers to Israel and its military; especially the United States, and for governments to cut trade, economic and cultural relations.

Rooneys characters generally have leftist politics, and her books invoke Israel in that context. In Normal People, the main characters attend a protest against Israel during the 2014 Gaza War. And in Rooneys debut novel, Conversations with Friends, a character named Bobbi talks about how relationships are about power, but people instead focus on niceness. She then says, I mean this is an issue in public discourse. We end up asking like, is Israel nicer than Palestine.

Rooney is not the first prominent author to refuse to publish a book in Hebrew. In 2012, Alice Walker, who also supports the movement to boycott Israel,would not allowThe Color Purple to be translated into Hebrew.

Ireland has a history of pro-Palestinian sentiment, owing to what many Irish citizens see as a cultural link to their struggles against the British. This summer, the countrypassed a motion condemning de facto annexation of Palestinian land. In 2018, Dublins city councilpassed resolutions endorsing a boycott of Israel and calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

Original post:

Sally Rooney Won't Let Her New Novel Be Published in Hebrew - Jewish Exponent

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