Last month, one of the Israeli publishing houses had to deal with unusual conduct . It all started quite normally: the publishers wanted to acquire the publishing rights to the two latest novels by author Kamila Shamsie. The earlier work of this acclaimed and celebrated British writer of Pakistani origin, had actually been published in Israel, the latest of which, the novel “Burnt Shadows” was published in Hebrew in 2010 (Keter Publishing). Since then, however, Shamsie has written two more novels which this same publishing house sought to acquire as well.
The publishing house was quickly thwarted in its efforts: “Unfortunately,” Shamsie’s agent replied, “I will not be able to share the work of the writer with Hebrew readers at this time. This decision bears no personal malice. When pressed for clarifications, Shamsie issued a direct response on her behalf explaining her desire to comply with the request made by Palestinian social organizations, which contacted leading cultural figures and appealed to them not to cooperate with Israeli institutes. .
