Bestselling author Lee Child and the Index on Censorship have condemned the silencing of Israeli literature and Jewish writers in the publishing industry.
At an event held by the Jewish Publishing Circle (JPC) for literary agents and scouts last week, the Jack Reacher novelist called on publishing professionals to challenge the exclusion of Jewish and Israeli writers who were unable to secure English-language publishing deals.
He said conversations with an Israeli crime writer who opposed Benjamin Netanyahu's government were a factor behind his joining the executive team at High Line Publishing Studio, the publishing house recently launched by literary agent Neil Blair as an antidote to monoculture and the increasing marginalisation of Israeli and Jewish authors since October 7.
Child said: “Why is it imagined that all [Israeli] writers move in lockstep, that they all agree, they’re all the same?”
Speaking to The Times after the event, which was attended by more than 60 non-Jewish literary agents, Child questioned the motivations behind such boycotts and challenged the assumption that Israel alone is so often seen as "monolithic” in its political views.
“It seems unlikely to me, so there must be an extra factor that I think people should examine in their own minds; what is leading them to take their own actions,” he said.
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of the Index on Censorship, chaired the JPC panel discussion on cultural freedom and boycotts with Child, Hachette’s head of people, Carrie Bloxson, and choreographer and co-director of Freedom in the Arts Rosie Kay.
Child also criticised the campaign to boycott Israeli cultural institutions, by writers including Sally Rooney, as hypocritical.
He said Rooney would be "utterly appalled, incredulous" if people called for a boycott of Irish writers, even if a fascist government came to power in Ireland.
"She would be representing the internal opposition and for her and her peers to be abandoned and shunned by the rest of the world would seem like a terrible betrayal.”
The JPC was formed by Stephanie Thwaites, head of book department at Curtis Brown, and Larry Finlay, former managing director of Transworld, in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks of 2023.
Finlay told the JC: “Boycotting Israeli and all other Jewish voices who support the state of Israel's right to exist is anti-Jewish racism.
“People within the publishing world know what racism is, and they stand full square against it as they should, but they don't stand full square against anti-Jewish racism, and it's time that they did.”
He added that ideological gatekeepers who sit on the political left “think they're doing the right thing, but aren't thinking through what they're doing”.
He called the cancellations and silent boycott of Jewish people in the arts “horrific”, adding: “It's bad in publishing. It's awful right across the arts in music, in fashion, in design, in art, in TV, in film. It's terrible. I cannot believe we're where we're at, but enough.
“We need to open the eyes of all of those who are good, decent, honest people.”
Finlay said the reason he cares “so deeply” is it's “massively affecting what gets published, what gets read and what gets stocked in libraries and what will be studied in years to come. It's a massive impact”.
Following the event, Thwaites and Finlay sent out a paper, the Case Against Boycotts, for agents to read and share with colleagues to encourage those considering blocking Hebrew-language rights deals to “think again”.
They also urged agents to consider the conversations that may crop up for editors to whom they are submitting a book by a new Jewish author and to help them navigate any potential prejudice during the acquisitions process.
The guides pointed out that preventing translation into any language shuts down communication, breaks bridges between communities and hinders efforts toward peaceful coexistence.
“Creativity and the arts foster empathy, dismantle division and enable the exchange of ideas. Writing encourages understanding and dialogue,” it reads.
“Calls to boycott, silence, or censor literature (or any art) run counter to the very principle of freedom of expression.”
It also pointed out that the majority of people working in Israeli publishing are left-leaning creatives who “promote pluralist and tolerant messages through the translated work they publish” and are “actively opposed” to Netanyahu’s government. It added that Israeli publishers are independent and not state-funded.
Larry Finlay said feedback from the event has been “fantastic”. “If you don't know Jewish people, you wouldn't necessarily realise quite how bad the situation is. They really opened their eyes. The word is absolutely getting out there.”
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