Top Nobel Laureate Coetzee Refuses Israel Prize
Nobel laureate JM Coetzee has declined to attend an upcoming literature festival in Israel, citing the “genocidal campaign” in Gaza, stating: “It will take many years for Israel to clear its name”.
The Nobel laureate, who was born in apartheid South Africa and lives in Australia, addressed a letter to the Jerusalem International Writers Festival artistic director, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, in November, as seen by the Guardian, in which he outlined his reasons for not attending the May event.
“For the past two years the state of Israel has been conducting a genocidal campaign in Gaza.. this campaign, conducted by the [Israeli army], appears to have had the enthusiastic support of the vast majority of Israel’s population.”
“For this reason it is not possible for any considerable sector of Israeli society, including its intellectual and arts community, to claim that it should not share in the blame for the atrocities in Gaza.”
Coetzee, who won the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003, visited Jerusalem in 1987 to receive the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. At the event, he called for the end of apartheid in South Africa, according to the Quds News Network.
Coetzee revealed he had once been a supporter of Israel. “The campaign of annihilation in Gaza has changed all that,” he continued. “Long-time supporters of Israel have turned away in revulsion at the actions of the Israeli military. It will take many years for Israel to clear its name, assuming that it wishes to do so, and to re-establish itself in the international community.”
A UN special committee of inquiry found that Israel’s assault on Gaza, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions as well as statements by senior Israeli leaders, demonstrated “direct evidence of genocidal intent”.
Amnesty International has said Israel is still committing genocide in Gaza during the so-called ceasefire which took effect in October and backed by the US by continuing to strike Gaza’s now mostly destroyed civilian infrastructure, killing hundreds and restricting the entry of much-needed aid, including to medical supplies and humanitarian relief.
More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza in October 2023.
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