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The Nobel Prize JM Coetzee has refused to attend an upcoming book festival in Israel, writing a heartwarming letter to organizers describing the “genocidal war” in Gaza, saying: “It will take years for Israel to clear its name”.
The 86-year-old author, who was born in apartheid South Africa and lives in Australia, wrote to organizers of the Jerusalem Writers’ Festival in November.
Although the contents of Coetzee’s letter were explained by the artistic director of the festival, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, in Israel in April, the Guardian received Coetzee’s letters directly.
Responding to Fermentto-Tzaisler’s invitation to the Jerusalem International Writers’ Festival, which takes place from 25 to 28 May, Coetzee declined but added, “I want to explain my reasons for doing this.”
“For the past two years Israel has been waging a genocidal campaign in Gaza that has been very inconsistent with what happened on October 7, 2023,” he wrote. “This operation, carried out by the IDF, appears to have been supported by many Israelis.” For this reason, it is impossible for any group of Israelis, including intelligent and talented people, to say that they should not cause the atrocities that are happening in Gaza.”
Coetzee revealed that he was once a supporter of Israel, writing: “Until recently, Israel had great support in the West. I counted myself among those supporters: I told myself that the day was surely coming when the people of Israel would have a change of heart and give some kind of justice to the Palestinian people whose land they occupied.
He continued: “The operation to destroy people in Gaza has changed all that. “Israel’s long-time supporters have turned away in disgust at what the Israeli army is doing. It will take many years for Israel to clear its name if it thinks it wants to, and re-establish itself in the international community.”
Coetzee, who rarely takes interviews or appears in public, is arguably the world’s most decorated writer. He has won the Booker Prize twice and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
When Coetzee went to Israel in 1987 to receive the Jerusalem Prize – awarded to writers for their exploration of individual freedom – he used his words announcing the end of apartheid in South Africa, saying: “South African books are in slavery, there are very few books of the people.
The Guardian contacted Fermentto-Tzaisler, who did not respond by the time of publication. He first revealed that Coetzee had resigned over his views on Israel in April, by Israeli reporter Ynet that Coetzee had sent a “very rude response” to his invitation and that it “surprised” him.
In a response letter obtained by Ynet, Fermentto-Tzaisler wrote to Coetzee, “As a South African writer who fought apartheid, I would have hoped—or perhaps dreamed—that you would reach out to me, that you would say to me, ‘Be strong, my son. … You left me in sorrow.'”
UN special commission of inquiry found that Israel’s actions in Gazawith the mass killing of civilians and life-threatening conditions and the statements of Israel’s top leaders, showed “direct evidence of genocidal intent”. Amnesty International says Israel is they continue to kill people in Gaza at the end of the war continue to look at Gaza’s most devastated areas by civilians and restricting the availability of medicines and human services.
The International Writers’ Festival in Jerusalem has featured Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Franzen, Joyce Carol Oates and Karl Ove Knausgård.
