Alice Walker rejects Israeli translation of "The Color Purple"
FILE - In this March 10, 2009 file photo Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. writer Alice Walker pauses during an interview with the Associated Press in Gaza City. On June 9, 2012 Walker said in a letter sent to an Israeli daily newspaper an Israeli publisher canā??t release a new Hebrew edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Color Purple," because of Israelā??s treatment of the Palestinian people. Parts of the letter were published June 19, and June 20. / File,AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill
(AP) JERUSALEM - American writer Alice Walker won't let an Israeli publisher release a new Hebrew edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Color Purple," saying she objects to Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.
Walker, an ardent pro-Palestinian activist, said in a letter to Yediot Books that Israel practices "apartheid" and must change its policies before her works can be published there.
"I would so like knowing my books are read by the people of your country, especially by the young and by the brave Israeli activists (Jewish and Palestinian) for justice and peace I have had the joy of working beside," she wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. "I am hopeful that one day, maybe soon, this may happen. But now is not the time." The chief editor of Yediot Books, Netta Gurevich, said in a statement Wednesday she regretted Walker's decision to bar the release of a new Hebrew-language edition of her book, a tale about black women's struggle against their miserable status in the American South in the 1930s.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Walker, an ardent pro-Palestinian activist, said in a letter to Yediot Books that Israel practices "apartheid" and must change its policies before her works can be published there.
"I would so like knowing my books are read by the people of your country, especially by the young and by the brave Israeli activists (Jewish and Palestinian) for justice and peace I have had the joy of working beside," she wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. "I am hopeful that one day, maybe soon, this may happen. But now is not the time." The chief editor of Yediot Books, Netta Gurevich, said in a statement Wednesday she regretted Walker's decision to bar the release of a new Hebrew-language edition of her book, a tale about black women's struggle against their miserable status in the American South in the 1930s.
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The arts, and literature in particular, "are so important to bridging differences, presenting 'the other' and generating a climate of tolerance and compassion," Gurevich said. "That's all the more so when talking about 'The Color Purple,' a book that addresses discrimination, otherness and the importance of the individual's struggle against injustice in general."
Gurevich said Walker is not the first author to refuse to have works published in Israel.
"The Color Purple" had been translated into Hebrew before by a different publishing house.
Walker is a supporter of a movement that seeks to pressure Israel to end its rule over the Palestinian people through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. She was also a passenger on a flotilla that unsuccessfully tried to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip last year.
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And they make very poor neighbors. Even the British didn't know how to manage them: they rioted every time there was the least hint of something not going their way. The British made concessions but nothing was ever good enough. Finally President Truman convinced the Brits they should let the United Nations manage the territory when their term expired. And it didn't take a whole lot of convincing.
I think people should read up on the conflict over there and find out the history of it. People just accept what comes through on the news and don't do their research.
Apartheid?? I don't think that's an accurate term by any means, in fact it seems rather bizarre to me. Comparing it with what happened in South Africa?? No... that's REAALLLY a stretch. I don't buy it.
The Bible says that God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. And, it gives examples. I'm surprised people don't take those Bible verses more seriously.