Welcome to the Forward‘s coverage of BDS – the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to pressure Israel to change its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
BDS
The Latest
-
Opinion Sally Rooney’s translation debacle is a political stunt that misses the plot
There is no honor in boycotting a language and a people. And yet that is what Sally Rooney has effectively done, despite her statement to the contrary, by blocking Hebrew translation of her new novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You” by Modan Publishing House. Hebrew belongs to no one nation state. It is an ancient…
-
Opinion Sally Rooney’s refusal to work with an Israeli publisher is antisemitic — just like all of BDS
It was already clear that something was up with acclaimed novelist Sally Rooney when I read her 2018 book “Normal People” and the characters randomly started bashing Israel: “They went to a protest against the war in Gaza…Marianne wanted her life to mean something then, she wanted to stop all violence committed by the strong…
-
News ‘A hypocrite’: Israelis in publishing say Sally Rooney is turning her back on Hebrew readers
Like many Israelis, Shelley Goldman, a retired book and newspaper editor from Tel Aviv, was shocked when Irish author Sally Rooney said she will not sell the Hebrew-language rights to her latest book to a publishing house that doesn’t abide by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’s guidelines. Rooney said in a statement Tuesday that…
-
Culture ‘What she’s doing is anti-translation.’ Why Israeli translators are upset about Rooney’s boycott.
Sally Rooney’s decision to refuse the translation rights of her latest novel to “Israeli-based” publishers has implications not just for BDS, but for the greater dialogue across languages. While Rooney clarified her position to state that she is not boycotting Hebrew, the prospect of a widely-available Hebrew translation not published in Israel seems unlikely. In…
-
Opinion I fought South African Apartheid and the Israeli occupation. Sally Rooney’s decision is wrong
Dear Ms. Rooney, No contemporary writer has gotten under my skin as you have. I have devoured your three novels and several of your stories, moved and astonished by the desires, anxieties and ambivalences of your characters and by the interplay among them; and not only moved and astonished but delighted by the quicksilver movements…
-
Fast Forward Sally Rooney clarifies: She’s boycotting Israel, not the Hebrew language.
On Tuesday, celebrated Irish novelist Sally Rooney clarified her stance on Hebrew translations of her new novel “Beautiful World, Where Are You.” “The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available,” Rooney wrote in a statement the Forward received from her agent, Tracy Bohan, on Tuesday following reports that she had declined to…
-
Opinion Why won’t Sally Rooney allow her latest novel to be translated into Hebrew by an Israeli publisher?
Editor’s note: The headline and body of this opinion piece were updated on Tuesday, Oct. 12, after Sally Rooney released a statement clarifying her stance on translation of her latest novel into Hebrew. She said that she is boycotting Israeli publishing houses, not the Hebrew language — and would allow a Hebrew translation of her…
-
News A journalist exposed Nazis — then lost her dream job over Israel
Journalist Nemi El-Hassan brought cameras inside a neo-Nazi concert in 2017, exposing the gathering to millions of Germans as she challenged the organizers over merchandise that extolled Hitler and ties to the far-right Alternative for Germany party. “El-Hassan is a confident, hijab-wearing Muslim woman, even when at a right-wing rock concert in Themar surrounded by…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
- 2
Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
- 3
Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
- 4
News Your complete guide to Trump’s Jewish advisers and pro-Israel cabinet
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Rep. Ritchie Torres, outspoken pro-Israel advocate, is dropping hints that he could run for NY governor
-
Fast Forward Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96
-
Fast Forward A Jewish museum in Tulsa held a funeral for remains of Holocaust victims it kept for years
-
Sports Texas A&M’s Sam Salz cherishes his first taste of DI college football — and the opportunity to inspire fellow Orthodox Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
