Scotland: Glasgow districts boycott Israeli books

LONDON – Scottish citizens might not be able to purchase English translations of Israeli masterpieces such as "A tale of love and darkness" by Amos Oz and "Someone to run with" by David Grossman, due to a boycott on Israeli books.


Two and a half years ago, shortly after Operation Cast Lead, the West Dunbartonshire Regional Council, located west of Glasgow, approved a bill that called to boycott goods produced in Israel.

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Following the botched raid on the Turkish Flotilla to Gaza last May, the council expanded the boycott to include a ban on the purchase of English translations of Israeli books and the distribution of these books in public libraries throughout the council's jurisdiction.

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"I think it is a despicable decision," said award-winning author Amos Oz, whose books are widely distributed to international audiences.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4073097,00.html

Why not burn them instead. Good gawd.

Israeli books. This is one council, which probably doesn't import many books or other goods from Israel in the first place, and is engaging in a convenient bit of posturing. I think this blogger describes it rather well:

http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/west-dunbartonshire-council-israel-and-political-posturing/

As a great admirer of Oz and Grossman, I find this stupid and disgusting - but not likely to have any real impact.

And after all, Scottish councils can afford to concentrate on the wrongs of Israel. It's not as though Scotland was suffering from savage cuts from the axe-wielding Tory thugs of Westminster, who can afford to use Scotland and the North as scapegoats as they don't vote Tory anyway. It's not as though libraries in the UK in general, let alone Scotland, were being closed down in droves, rather than having Israeli books as their main worry. It's not as though the economic crisis were hitting Scotland even worse than many other places, with Cameron and Osborne making matters much worse. Oh, wait....