Publishers for Palestine, an international coalition of more than 500 publishers, issued an open letter on Tuesday demanding that organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair cut ties with Israel. In the letter, the coalition, which formed last November, called for Frankfurt to “publicly denounce Israel’s regime of genocide and setter-colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people,” among other demands.
The members presses in Publishers for Palestine hail from 50 countries, including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Nigeria, the Philippines, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, Wales, and others. The U.S.–based member presses, which include several regular exhibitors at Frankfurt, are Haymarket Books, Interlink Publishing, Microcosm Publishing, OR Books, Other Press, Seven Stories Press, Sublunary Editions, and Verso Books.
The open letter comes shortly before this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, which is slated for October 16–20. Ahead of last year’s fair, held just weeks after the October 7 attack on Israel, Frankfurt director Juergen Boos expressed support for Israel with a statement saying that the fair "stands with complete solidarity on the side of Israel" and intended to highlight Israeli voices at that year’s show. Additional programming featuring Israeli speakers crashed into last year’s Frankfurt program including an event called "Out of Concern for Israel," organized by PEN Berlin, which took place on the first day of the fair. (The majority of Israeli publishers canceled their appearances at the 2023 fair following the attack.)
Last year, fair organizers also canceled a ceremony for Palestinian author Adania Shibli, who was to be awarded the LiBeraturpreis for her novel Minor Detail, about the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The cancelation prompted a number of major Arab publishing organizations to pull out of last year’s fair, although some are expected to return this year. This year’s programming highlights, sent to press earlier this week, include “Occupied, Destroyed, Fought over, in Turmoil: Quo Vadis Palestine?,” an Oct. 19 conversation with Palestinian novelist and former culture minister Atef Abu Saif moderated by German journalist Kristin Helberg, and a talk from Palestinian author Abdalrahman Alqalaq on writing in exile scheduled for the new Center for Words on Oct. 17.
“Every year, people from more than 100 countries attend Frankfurter Buchmesse,” a Frankfurt Book Fair representative said in a statement to PW. “The book fair is a platform for democratic discourse and peaceful encounters between publishers, authors, translators, illustrators, and readers from all over the world. Our program reflects this, featuring voices from every corner of the globe.”
This article has been updated with further information.
