Israel Boycott: Sally Rooney won't let novel be published in Hebrew

• Published date: 12 October 2021
• Author: BEN SALES/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Like the acclaimed Irish author's first two books, "Beautiful World" explores the life and romance of intellectual, urbane millennials. It debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in September, following a publicity campaign that came on the heels of Rooney's popular second novel, "Normal People," which was also adapted into a TV series.

That publicity campaign, however, will not be reaching Israel. The Hebrew-language publisher of Rooney's first two books, Modan Publishing House, told Haaretz last month that Rooney won't allow her new book to be published in Hebrew because she supports an Israel boycott. Rooney's agent confirmed the news to Haaretz.

Rooney, 30, has been open about her opposition to Israel. In July, soon after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Rooney was one of thousands of artists to sign a letter accusing Israel of apartheid and calling for its international isolation. The letter called for "an end to the support provided by global powers to Israel and its military; especially the United States," and for governments to "cut trade, economic and cultural relations."

Rooney's characters generally have leftist politics, and her books invoke Israel in that context. In "Normal People," the main characters attend a protest against Israel during the 2014 Gaza War. And in...