Israeli Leader Opens Boycotted Book Fair
Elaine Ganley - Associated Press
Mar 13, 2008
PARIS -- Opening the Paris Book Fair this year should have been a low-key cultural event during Israeli President Shimon Peres' state visit to France. Instead, it was charged with Middle East tensions, with a boycott by some Arab nations upset this year's fair honors Israeli writers.
Peres praised the power of books and words, "living organisms," and their contribution to Israel and Israelis. The boycott, he said, is an action that can hurt only those involved.
"Those who want to burn books, boycott wisdom, prevent reflection, block freedom condemn themselves to blindness, ignorance, to lack of reflection, loss of freedom," Peres said in his only reference to the boycott.
The boycott by at least a half-dozen Muslim countries drew sighs of regret from fair visitors and participants alike.
"Reading must not become a dangerous sport," the fair's organizer, Serge Eyrolles, said before Peres took the lectern.
Peres' appearance at the book fair comes near the end of his five-day state visit to France - a sign of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to rebuild frayed ties with Israel.
Sarkozy's spokesman called for calm.
"It is not books that we should fear," David Martinon said at a news conference Thursday.
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization urged its 50 member nations to boycott the fair, saying Israel should not be honored at a time of "siege" against the Palestinian people.
Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were among those heeding the boycott call, though some writers, publishers and booksellers from those countries were expected to attend, according to fair Eyrolles.
The fair opens to the public Friday and runs through March 19.
Each year the international fair puts the spotlight on one country. This year it is inviting 39 writers from Israel, including David Grossman, Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and Aharon Appelfeld. A similar controversy is brewing about the May book fair in Turin, Italy, which is also highlighting Israeli works.
"It's sad and a shame ... we're not talking about Kalashnikovs here. We're talking about books, the language, words," said Martine Heissler, who was helping run a stand at the fair for Tribune Juive, a monthly for the French Jewish community.
Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai said, "I think it's ridiculous because most of the writers are from the left, and for dialogue. If these people are boycotted, who will you speak to?"
Books, Peres said, "are transmitted from generation to generation, from one site to another, ... from the nation to exile."
"You cannot carry your land into exile, but the tongue, even in exile, remains your country," he said.
The Israeli stand, labeled with a black tree with leaves made of Hebrew lettering, stood next to Germany's, and near those of Romania and Brittany in a show of the diverse world's respect for the book.
Critics argued the fair celebrates the 60th anniversary of Israel, though organizers said it was coincidence, and that Israel has asked to be honored for five years in a row but there was a waiting list.
Dissident voices have spoken out on both sides - Israeli writers who oppose the recognition of Israel at the fair, and Arabs who say the boycott is nonsense.
Algerian writer Salah Guemriche said he was opposed to his country's decision to boycott the fair.
"I prefer to discuss, seek dialogue with my enemy rather than turn my back on him or place a bomb," he said. "To boycott is not the solution."
Earlier Thursday, Peres paid tribute to the French who saved Jews during the Holocaust in a somber ceremony at the Pantheon in Paris' Latin Quarter, and visited a Foreign Ministry exhibition about the origins of the state of Israel.
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Copyright 2008 by Associated Press
