Adei, the association of independent publishers, expressed in a statement “its shock and its complete rejection of the Frankfurt Messe’s decision to cancel the Adania Shibli awards ceremony.” The association “finds it unbelievable that an award-winning author, including a finalist of the International Booker Prize 2021, whose novels have long been published in Italy, is pushed into the background just because she is Palestinian.” This makes the statement seem all the more shrill , wanting to give “Jewish and Israeli voices” more space and visibility.
“The Book Fair,” said Andrea Palombi, President of Adei, “despite being a human rights fair, has always been a crossroads of international culture and as such should be a place where the most comprehensive comparison of the most diverse voices can be ensured at the same time. “at the international level, even and perhaps especially when the noise of the weapons becomes more and more deafening.” Adei concludes: “If the absolute condemnation of those who do not bother to massacre civilians remains a duty, Exclusion and censorship based solely on nationality also means subjecting culture to the logic of weapons.”
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