AUTHORS -''PALESTINE''- AUGERS * : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

 

'' Authors unite for Palestine ''. An open letter condemning Israel's genocide has opened a can of worms.

If the widespread Israeli-led brutality in Palestine has proven anything, it is that protests, boycotts and music from the heart are but a fly in the ointment. 

Activists, civilians and celebrities may take to the streets - or to their keyboards - but bombs will continue to fall, lives will continue to be laid to waste, and children continue to be orphaned.

All this, despite the continued efforts of red-pinned Artists4Ceasefire, rapper Macklemore with Hind's Hall, and the boycott of adored celebrities via Blockout 2024.

Then again the most dewy-eyed spectator donning the most rose-tinted glasses in existence would have twigged that a cultural boycott would never result in an outright ceasefire.

The whole point of raising a voice when those being slaughtered are in no position to do so is exactly that : to raise a voice, spread awareness, and call spade a spade. Or, in this case, call this genocide a genocide instead of a ' conflict '. Or war.

'' An open boycott letter '' : Joining the fray in a desperate bid to remind us all that the hell faced by the Palestinian is not over, an open letter organised by Festival of Literature [ PalFest ] has called on the publishing industry this week to boycott Israel institutions that '' have remained silent observers '' to the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

According to The Bookseller, the boycott letter asks signatories to pledge not to '' cooperate with Israeli institutions including publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications''.

The PalFest letter, sent by The Bookseller, references the ''emergency'' situation faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the '' years of displacement '' experienced by Palestinians.

According to the letter, '' nature has played an integral role in normalising these injustices.''

The letter continues to note that those who have signed will not co-operate with Israeli institutions that are '' complicit in violating Palestinian rights '' or that ''have never publicly recognised the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in the international law''.

More than 1,000 writers - both Pakistani and international have signed the open letter.

Among these names are Fatima Bhutto, Mohsin Hamid, Saba Imtiaz, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, and Kamila Shamsie, as well as Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy, Rupi Kaur, William Dalrymple, and Rachel Kushner.

'' A counter-letter '' : If you believe that the world of literature would attract little attention, you ate about to be swiftly disabused of that notion.

A counter petition to uphold freedom of expression has already been put in motion and has been signed by high-profile figures in the entertainment industry, both in and out of publishing.

The Master Essay Publishing, continues. The World Students Society thanks The Express Tribune correspondent from Slough.