Sally Rooney, who has been called “the first major novelist of the new millennium,” has clearly outlined her attitude towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rooney rejected an offer from Israeli publisher Modan, which published her first two novels in Hebrew, to publish a translation of her latest novel, Wonderful World, Where Are You?
Rooney does not hide his negative attitude towards Israel. She joined numerous artists in the arts who signed a letter in July this year accusing Israel of pursuing an apartheid policy towards the Palestinians and calling on world powers – and especially the United States – to “end support for Israel and its military.” The letter also called for an end to trade, economic and cultural relations with Israel.
The characters in the writer’s novels often criticize Israel. Rooney is Irish, and many people in this country support the Palestinians in their fight against the “Israeli occupation”, which reminds them of their own conflict with Britain. In response to Rooney’s statement, many Israeli libraries and bookstores withdrew from the book fund and from the sale of other works of the writer published in Hebrew.
Newspaper headline:
Anti-Semitism in disguise
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