Alice Walker refuses Israel permission to publish her novel

PRESS RELEASE

19 June 2012

The world-renowned author, Alice Walker, has refused an Israeli company, Yediot Books, from publishing her award winning novel, The Color Purple, citing Israel's "apartheid policies". In a letter dated 09 June 2012, Walker says:

"It isn’t possible for me to permit this [Israeli publishing] at this time for the following reason...Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories."

“The Color Purple,” which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, was adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 1985 and nominated for 11 Oscars. Both the book and film deal with racism in the American South in the first part of the 20th century.

This is a significant "victory" for the cultural boycott of Israel which has recently been in the spotlight with Gil Shohat, the Classical Music Advisor to the Israel Festival publicly admitting that the cultural boycott of Israel is working. Shohat commented to Israel's Haaretz newspaper saying: "there are choirs and opera companies which are not interested in coming to Israel. Even if they don’t say it’s because of the political issue, they prefer not to get involved."

Just last week, international Tabla player, Zakir Hussein, who is considered one of the world's "most influential" Indian artists, announced that he was canceling his upcoming Israel gigs.

In the 1980s, during Apartheid in South Africa, Walker also refused South Africa permission to screen the movie adaptation of her book, she writes in her letter:

"How happy we all were when the apartheid regime was dismantled…only then did we send our beautiful movie! And to this day, when I am in South Africa, I can hold my head high and nothing obstructs the love that flows between me and the people of that country."

The 'South African Artists Against Apartheid collective' and 'BDS South Africa' salutes Alice Walker for her brave decision and moral consistency!

Find Alice Walker's full letter below.

FOR MORE INFO:
MPHO MADI (SA Artists Against Apartheid collective spokesperson)
[email][email protected]
Muhammed Desai (BDS South Africa spokesperson)
[email][email protected]
+27 (0) 84 211 9988
www.southafricanartistsagainstapartheid.com
www.bdssouthafrica.com

Dear Publishers at Yediot Books,

June 9, 2012

Thank you so much for wishing to publish my novel THE COLOR PURPLE. It isn’t possible for me to permit this at this time for the following reason: As you may know, last Fall in South Africa the Russell Tribunal on Palestine met and determined that Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories. The testimony we heard, both from Israelis and Palestinians (I was a jurist) was devastating. I grew up under American apartheid and this was far worse. Indeed, many South Africans who attended, including Desmond Tutu, felt the Israeli version of these crimes is worse even than what they suffered under the white supremacist regimes that dominated South Africa for so long.

It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation.

In that regard, I offer an earlier example of THE COLOR PURPLE’s engagement in the world-wide effort to rid humanity of its self-destructive habit of dehumanizing whole populations. When the film of The Color Purple was finished, and all of us who made it decided we loved it, Steven Spielberg, the director, was faced with the decision of whether it should be permitted to travel to and be offered to the South African public. I lobbied against this idea because, as with Israel today, there was a civil society movement of BDS aimed at changing South Africa’s apartheid policies and, in fact, transforming the government.

It was not a particularly difficult position to hold on my part: I believe deeply in non-violent methods of social change though they sometimes seem to take forever, but I did regret not being able to share our movie, immediately, with (for instance) Winnie and Nelson Mandela and their children, and also with the widow and children of the brutally murdered, while in police custody, Steven Biko, the visionary journalist and defender of African integrity and freedom.

We decided to wait. How happy we all were when the apartheid regime was dismantled and Nelson Mandela became the first president of color of South Africa.

Only then did we send our beautiful movie! And to this day, when I am in South Africa, I can hold my head high and nothing obstructs the love that flows between me and the people of that country.

Which is to say, I would so like knowing my books are read by the people of your country, especially by the young, and by the brave Israeli activists (Jewish and Palestinian) for justice and peace I have had the joy of working beside. I am hopeful that one day, maybe soon, this may happen. But now is not the time.

We must continue to work on the issue, and to wait.

In faith that a just future can be fashioned from small acts,

Alice Walker