Malaysia’s education ministry has pulled out of the Frankfurt book fair, citing the organisation’s pro-Israel stance in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
In a statement published on Monday, the Malaysian ministry said that it “will not compromise with Israel’s violence in Palestine, which clearly violates international laws and human rights”. This came after an awards ceremony celebrating Palestinian author Adania Shibli that was due to be held at the world’s largest book fair was called off.
Over the weekend, book fair director Juergen Boos published a statement detailing plans “to give Israeli and Jewish voices additional time on our stages” in the wake of “Hamas’s barbaric terror war” and expressed “complete solidarity on the side of Israel”. In a statement shared with the Guardian on Tuesday, Boos said that “millions of innocent people in Israel and in Palestine are affected by this horrible war” and that “our sympathy goes out to all of them”.
The Malaysian ministry said that the decision to withdraw from the festival, which is scheduled to run between 18 and 22 October, is “in line with the government’s stand to be in solidarity and offer full support for Palestine”. Malaysia, which has a Muslim-majority population, is a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights. On Monday, prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said that western officials have repeatedly asked Malaysia to condemn militant group Hamas in meetings but that his government does not agree with their “pressuring attitude”.
The Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi) also condemned the fair’s stance on Monday. “Siding with Israel while forgetting the suffering of the Palestinian people is like reading only one book to feel like you understand the whole world”, association chair Arys Hilman Nugraha said. Ikapi has “cancelled participation in the 2023 Frankfurt book fair, failed to attend the opening ceremony, and cancelled several events,” continued the statement.
The Arab Publishers’ Association, Emirates Publishers Association and Sharjah Book Authority also withdrew from the fair. “We are sad to see that some exhibitors from the Arab region withdrew their participation in this year’s fair,” Boos said on Monday.
“The Frankfurt book fair stands for the peaceful encounter of people from all over the world. Since its very beginnings, the book fair has always been about humanity and its focus has always been on peaceful and democratic discourse,” he told the Guardian. “Freedom of expression is the backbone of our publishing industry. This is in the DNA of the Frankfurt book fair and what the fair stands for. We cannot comment on the decisions of individual exhibitors, but our platform is always open to authors, publishers, translators and literature fans from all over the world. Of course, the Frankfurt book fair is a platform for both Israeli and Palestinian voices.”
Palestinian-born novelist Shibli was due to receive the 2023 LiBeraturpreis, an annual prize given to women writers from the global south. However, on Friday, LitProm – the association that administers the prize, and of which Boos is president – said it would postpone the ceremony “due to the war started by Hamas, under which millions of people in Israel and Palestine are suffering”. Though the association characterised the decision as a joint one, Shibli’s literary agency told the Guardian that it was made without the author’s consent.
More than 1,000 writers and publishers have signed an open letter condemning LitProm’s decision, and on Monday PEN America urged the association to reconsider the move. Literary organisations “should affirm their commitment to free expression and pluralism even amid conflict”, said PEN’s chief program officer Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf. Last Tuesday, PEN America said in a statement that it “deplores the premeditated and vicious attack launched against Israeli civilians”.
Shibli’s UK publisher Fitzcarraldo tweeted on Tuesday that it had made the ebook of Shibli’s novel Minor Detail, in translation by Elisabeth Jaquette, free to download for the entirety of Frankfurt book fair.
