Annie Ernaux: Anti-Semitism allegations against Nobel Prize winner for literature

Annie Ernaux: Anti-Semitism allegations against Nobel Prize winner for literature
Annie Ernaux: Anti-Semitism allegations against Nobel Prize winner for literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is overshadowed. A winner has been named in Annie Ernaux who may be openly anti-Semitic.

“You should know that this is something really big for me,” said Annie Ernaux on Thursday when she received the Nobel Prize in Literature. The 82-year-old author emphasized that with her victory she now has the responsibility to continue her fight against injustice.

But the self-proclaimed fighter against injustice is apparently behind anti-Semitism and is a supporter of the political movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which wants to isolate the State of Israel. This is now reported by The Jerusalem Post.

Ernaux signed several letters

In 2019, the writer signed a letter with over 100 other French artists calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Tel Aviv. At the same time, French television was asked not to broadcast the international music event.

But according to the medium, that should only be the tip of the iceberg: a year earlier there had already been a letter in which around 80 artists, including Ernaux, had expressed their outrage about intercultural cooperation between Israel and France. This would help “whitewash” the image of the State of Israel.

Letter calls for release of convicted murderer

The Jerusalem Post also knows of a third letter signed by the award winner. This demanded the release of Georges Abdallah. The Lebanese activist was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1982 for the assassination of US military attaché Lt. Col. Charles R. Ray and Israeli diplomat Yaakov Bar-Simantov. The letter referred to the two men as “active Mossad and CIA agents.” For his part, Abdallah is “dedicated [sich] for the Palestinian people and against colonization”.

There is also a letter from last year. Titled “A Letter Against Apartheid,” it was drafted after the 2021 Israel-Gaza conflict. It listed the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and on the Arabs and Palestinians – but not the attacks on Israel. “It is wrong and misleading to present this as a war between two equal sides. Israel is the colonizing power. Palestine is colonized. This is not a conflict, this is apartheid,” said the letter, also signed by Ernaux.

The article is in German

Tags: Annie Ernaux AntiSemitism allegations Nobel Prize winner literature