Ms Rooney cited one in her email report good was published this year by Human Rights Watch which stated that the Israeli government’s action met the legal definition of apartheid, and expressed its support for bds movement, which aims to harness international political and economic pressure on Israel. Supporters say the BDS movement aims to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, while critics, including many Israelis, say that its real aim is the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
Ms Rooney is not the first prominent author to decline an offer to publish in Israel. Alice Walker said in 2012 that she would not allow a Hebrew translation of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Color Purple”. Ms. Walker, who was born in 1944 in Georgia, said at that time“I grew up under American apartheid and it was very bad,” she says of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Deborah Harris, a literary agent whose company handles major authors who translate and publish in Israel, called Ms Rooney’s decision painful and counterproductive.
“when it’s Ice Cream Or when it’s cement, or whatever, it’s one thing, but when it comes to culture, I have a really hard time seeing how productive it can be to change anything, Ms Harris said. “What literature should do should reach the hearts and minds of the people. “
Ms Harris said those who read Ms Rooney’s work in Israel do not support the policies she objected to. “Her audience here is people who are in full support of a Palestinian state,” Ms. Harris said.