Pakistani novelist, critical of Israeli policies, questions the basis for literary prize withdrawal

Acclaimed novelist Kamila Shamsie has a question for the jury of Nelly Sachs Prize for literature which this month picked her as the winner of the award and just a fortnight later rescinded it – for her opposition to Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.

“It’s a matter of outrage that the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement that campaigns against the government of Israel for its acts of discrimination and brutality against Palestinians should be held up as something shameful and unjust,” Shamsie, a Pakistani-British author said.

Her statement followed German city of Dortmund’s decision to rescind the Nelly Sachs Prize – named after a Jewish poet – saying the jurists had not been aware of her participation in the boycott measures against the Israeli government for its Palestinian policies since 2014.

“Shamsie’s political positioning to actively participate in the cultural boycott as part of the BDS (Boycott Disinvestment Sanctions) campaign against the Israeli government is clearly in contradiction to the statutory objectives of the award and the spirit of the Nelly Sachs Prize,” the city of Dortmund said in a statement.

Shamsie also wondered why a jury would backtrack on its decision because of someone’s exercising her freedom of conscience.

“It is a matter of great sadness to me that a jury should bow to pressure and withdraw a prize from a writer who is exercising her freedom of conscience and freedom of expression,” the Karachi-born novelist Shamsie said.

Launched in 2005, the BDS is a non-violent movement – as cited by Shamsie – seeking to pressurize Israel to respect Palestinian human rights.

Critics say the boycott amounts to punishing the entire Israeli society for actions of their government – an argument that the panel of jurists cited in the statement.

The German organization refused to publish the novelist’s statement alongside their revised decision on the award, which brings the winner a cash prize of 15,000 euros ($16,500).

Kamil Shamsie, 46, spent her early years in Karachi before she moved to London and shot to fame with her works including Broken Verses, Burnt Shadows and House Fire. She is a recipient of several awards including the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018. Shamsie had also been long-listed for the 2017 Booker Prize.

Her statement in reaction to reversal of the literary prize award draws attention to the context of the issue as represented by recent statements of Israeli politicians.

“In the just-concluded Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to annex up to one third of the West Bank, in contravention of international law, and his political opponent Benny Gantz’s objection to this was that Netanyahu had stolen his idea; this closely followed the killing of two Palestinian teenagers  by Israeli forces – which was condemned as ‘appalling’ by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process,” she said.

“In this political context, the jury of the Nelly Sachs prize has chosen to withdraw the award from me on the basis of my support for a non-violent campaign to bring pressure on the Israeli government.”