“The cultural boycott does not transcend borders, but affects the whole of Israeli society regardless of its actual political and cultural heterogeneity, the eight jurors said in a joint statement to the Guardian.
“Kamila Shamsie’s work is also withheld from the Israeli population in this way. This contrasts with the claim of the Nelly Sachs prize to proclaim and exemplify reconciliation among peoples and cultures. The jury regrets the situation in every respect.”
Ms Shamsie described herself as exercising her freedom of conscience and freedom of expression”, and called it a “matter of outrage that the BDS movement (modelled on the South African boycott) that campaigns against the government of Israel for its acts of discrimination and brutality against Palestinians should be held up as something shameful and unjust”.
The founders of the BDS movement have made it clear that they will not tolerate the existence of a Jewish state in their future vision of the area. Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the movement, has also rejected the idea of a bi-national state, saying that this would mean recognising national Jewish rights and therefore “imply accepting their right to self-determination”.
In May, the German Bundestag passed a motion labelling the BDS campaign antisemitic and “reminiscent of the most terrible chapter in German history”, where under the Nazi regime, Germans were urged to boycott Jewish-owned stores and Jewish goods.
