2023-10-17 21:54:14
by CRISTINA TAGLIETTI, sent to Frankfurt
Israel and Gaza loom. At the inauguration, the Fair defends the postponement of the award to the Palestinian author Adania Shibli. Arab publishers do not participate. The philosopher: «Proud to be here but I’m ashamed»
And in the end, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek arrives to ignite the Buchmesse on the opening evening of Tuesday 17 October, which officially opens in Frankfurt on Wednesday 18th. That this seventy-fifth edition was highly political was understood in recent days with the controversy that erupted over the decision to postpone the LiBeraturpreis to the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli, author of the novel A Minor Details (The Ship of Theseus) in which he recounts the violence against an Arab woman by Israeli soldiers in 1949. And it is also on this occasion that the philosopher, called to give the speech on behalf of his country, Slovenia, guest of honor at this year, refers to the end of a passionate and provocative speech that sparked protests and applause. Until that moment the words of the participants in the ceremony, of the German Culture Minister Claudia Roth, of the mayor of Frankfurt Mike Joseph, of the director of the Fair Jürgen Boos and of the president of the German publishers and booksellers Karin Schmidt-Friderichs had kept the firm condemnation of the terrorist attack by Hamas and solidarity with Israel, while only the president of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar had also underlined what is happening to civilians in the Gaza Strip.
«Terrorism against Israel contradicts all the values of the Buchmesse, of course – Žižek concluded his speech – but so does the collective punishment of millions of people in Gaza, as does the scandalous decision to cancel Adania Shibli. For this reason I am not only proud to be here, but I am a little ashamed.” Žižek began by saying that he condemned “no ifs or buts” the Hamas attack on Israelis: “I recognize Israel’s right to defend itself and destroy the threat – he continued -. However, I notice something strange: the moment you mention the need to analyze the context of the situation you are accused of supporting or justifying Hamas terrorism.” Žižek analyzed the context, the historical roots of the conflict, but also some studied provocations, such as when he quoted Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas «who obviously lives comfortably in Dubai and on the day of the attack said: “Go away from our land. Out of our sight. This land is ours. There is no place or safety for you.” A quote, clear and disgusting. But didn’t the Israeli government say something similar? Although, of course, in a much more civilized way, it is the first of the official fundamental principles of the current government of Israel. Netanyahu said: Israel is not a state of all its citizens, but of the Jewish people and only of them.” A statement which, together with other passages of the speech, such as the statement that «the European right loves to support Israel considering that the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich had already approved a Jewish state in the Middle East», aroused protests from the audience. Someone left the room, someone accused him of engaging in relativism. Uwe Becker, commissioner for anti-Semitism of Hesse, of the CDU, went under the stage shouting “Shame” and inviting the institutions of the Fair to intervene, while others applauded, especially at the end, when Zizek reiterated the condemnation of Hamas terrorism and solidarity with the Palestinians.
It was already clear that politics would dominate the debate on the morning of Tuesday 17th, at the press conference. «The world is unraveling», said Jürgen Boos, commenting on the simultaneous crises that besiege the present: «If we look back on our 75 years, it seems that society has changed little, but today the world is out of control. We have the crisis of climate change and the crisis of Western democracies. We have lived through Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine for more than a year and a half and since October 7 we have witnessed a new, terrible peak in the escalation of violence.”
However, Boos did not take any steps backwards regarding the decision not to award the prize to Adania Shibli, as initially expected. You also said it on the sidelines of the press conference: «I don’t think it was a wrong decision because this is the only prize in the world awarded to African, Latin American and Asian women writers. He is very respected and important, but some exploited him and it was immediately clear that we would not be here to hear the writer’s voice, but political deformations, arguments, manipulations.”
Boos does not fear boycotts, the defections of especially Arab and Muslim publishers, some of whom have already announced it, such as the Arab Publishers Association, the Emirates Publishers Association, the Sharjah Book Authority, to which the Ministry of Malaysian education. «We will invite them next year. In 2015, when Salman Rushdie, who won the Peace Prize this year, came, the Iranians weren’t there, last year the Russians didn’t come. It is part of the freedom of publishers and freedom of speech is in the Fair’s DNA.”
Guest country of 2024 – Italy presents itself on Thursday 19 October
Italy appears in Frankfurt. The presentation conference of the 2024 guest country will be held on Thursday 19 October: ours. Among others, Mauro Mazza, extraordinary government commissioner for the Buchmesse, and the director of the Fair, Jürgen Boos, are expected. The handover with Slovenia is scheduled for Sunday 22nd: Ilaria Tuti will speak with Dušan Jelincic. This year there are 137 Italian exhibitors in Frankfurt. On Wednesday 18th, the Spazio Italia collective stand will be inaugurated with ambassador Armando Varricchio, the president of Aie Innocenzo Cipolletta and the vice-president Renata Gorgani.
October 17, 2023 (modified October 17, 2023 | 9:59 pm)
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