Brooklyn Book Festival (BBF)

Press Coverage

i24 News

Brooklyn Book Festival criticized for Israeli sponsorship

Abstract: 

A petition protesting partial Israeli government financing of a Sunday panel event of the Brooklyn Book Festival, attended by prominent Israeli novelist Assaf Gavron, attracted hundreds of signatories, including notable authors such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Juno Diaz ("This Is How You Lose Her"), Elif Batuman ("The Possessed"), Brooklyn Book Festival participants and famous music critic of New Yorker magazine, Sasha Frere-Jones.

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Press Coverage

The Comics Reporter

Several Cartoonists Sign Petition Vs Brooklyn Book Festival Taking Israeli State Funding For A Panel

Abstract: 

You can read the petition here. I think it's pretty straight forward. At issue is the sponsorship of a panel by Israel's Office of Cultural Affairs in New York. That's an embassy-hosted effort that does a lot of presenting art from Israel in a variety of settings. A sponsored book panel seems just the kind of thing they'd be interested in doing. The objection by those signing the petition is described at length and is based on Israeli policy in Palestine.

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Press Coverage

Hyperallergic

Brooklyn Book Festival Participants Sign Petition Denouncing Israeli Government Funding

Abstract: 

In response to the Israeli consulate’s sponsorship of a panel discussion at the Brooklyn Book Festival, Adalah-NY has released an open letter and petition denouncing the funding as a violation of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Released earlier this afternoon, the petition has gathered around 300 signatories as of press time, among them 18 past and present Brooklyn Book Festival participants, including editors at Verso and Haymarket Books, and authors includi

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Web Action

Open Letter to the Brooklyn Book Festival re Israeli Sponsorship

Tell the Brooklyn Book Festival to no longer accept partnerships with the Israeli government or complicit institutions.

To the Brooklyn Book Festival Inc. and the Brooklyn Book Festival Literary Council:

We, the undersigned, including participants and exhibitors at the Brooklyn Book Festival, recently noticed that the festival has chosen to accept support from Israel's Office of Cultural Affairs in New York for one of its panels.

It is deeply regrettable that the Festival has chosen to accept funding from the Israeli government just weeks after Israel's bloody 50-day assault on the Gaza Strip, which left over 2100 Palestinians – including 500 children – dead, displaced a fourth of the population, destroyed homes, schools, and hospitals, and involved numerous potential war crimes. Sustaining a partnership with the Israeli Consulate at this time amounts to a tacit endorsement of Israel's many violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.

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