THEL conflict between Israel and Palestine breaks into the Frankfurt Book Fair who openly sides with Israel and cancels the awarding of the “LiBeraturpreis” prize to the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli: in the novel A minor detailpublished in Italy by La nave di Teseo, tells of a Palestinian girl kidnapped and killed by Israeli soldiers in 1949.
Frankfurt Book Fair, no prize for the Palestinian writer
On the other hand, Juergen Boos, director of the German fair, expressing his total solidarity with Israel for the brutal attack suffered by Hamas, made it known that “extra space will be granted to Israeli voices”. In a statement a few hours after the inauguration on 18 October he wrote: «The war of terror against Israel contradicts all the values that the Buchmesse represents. The Buchmesse has always been about humanity and has always focused on peaceful and democratic discourse. However, terror cannot be allowed to win. And that’s why we want to make Jewish and Israeli voices particularly visible at the fair by giving them more space on our stages.”
The LiBeraturpreis award to the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli has been cancelled. The Frankfurt Book Fair takes sides (@instagram)
Controversy over the literary event
The debate heats up and controversy hits the event. The Arab publishers are not on board and dissociate themselves with a statement addressed to Boos: «We deeply regret the distorted and unjust position towards the tragic events in the region. The one who lives the Palestinian people live is the longest occupation in modern history, an occupation that turned into apartheid and made Gaza an open-air prison for more than 2.2 million people. It’s a shame that events have taken this turn.”
The writer Said Khatibi: «The fair has taken a political side»
The famous Algerian writer Said Khatibi also shares the same idea: «We hoped that literature would play an important role in building a dialogue between the parties. But the fair took a political stance of one side against the other» wrote Khatibi in a Facebook post in which he also reported that he had withdrawn his participation in the festival.
Why the chaos for Shibli’s book
A minor detail had already sparked a first wave of controversy in recent months, therefore before the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. The book, which tells the true story of a Bedouin raped and killed by a group of Israeli soldiers in 1949, according to some, it would do nothing more than “describe Israel as a killing machine”. So much so that in recent months Ulrich Noller, journalist and member of the jury of the Frankfurt Fair prize, resigned against the decision to reward the Palestinian writer.
What happens now
To avoid being targeted Boos handed over the decision to cancel the LiBeraturpreis to the Litprom organisation«solely responsible for awarding the prize» who seems to want to do a half-reverse and therefore reward Shibli, but only at the end of the war between Israel and Palestine. If this will be the case, however, and if Shibli will agree, there are still no official rumors.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED