Such is the experience
It’s not that publishers are boycotting Jews, it’s just that they aren’t publishing books by Jews.
Such is the experience of so many Jewish people in British publishing today. In interviews with The Telegraph, authors, agents, scouts and publishers spoke of the growing sense of discomfort and [ostracism] they have experienced in their industry since the October 7 attacks. Many say a quiet but pervasive anti-Semitism – a sense of “Jews don’t count”, as one author put it – has begun to creep in.
Mind you, that’s generally the case with all kinds of rejections, failures, not happenings. Is it because the book or article or movie or play is not good enough or is it because the author is not in an Approved category? It’s not always obvious.
It all adds up to what many describe as a culture of “soft boycotting” which has taken hold, whereby Jewish stories are left untold, Jewish agents are quietly dropped, and Jewish authors find themselves persona non grata amongst their peers. Underpinning it all is a growing sense of isolation. Or, as one literary agent put it, “a feeling [that you are] not part of a community that you’ve been part of for many years”.
“The general feeling of this year is of feeling outnumbered, isolated … this culture of soft boycotting is really hard to prove and makes you sound paranoid,” says another agent. “I’ve sent out two proposals by Jewish authors and I’m just not able to sell them. Neither have written books about the conflict.”
Well that doesn’t tell us anything. Surely agents aren’t just automatically able to sell every book they offer. We don’t know that the two books were any good.
Occasionally, she has been able to sell books by Jewish authors “where their Jewishness is not present or out there”. But if the book has an overtly Jewish theme? “It definitely feels like it’s much harder.”
Oh well then, that settles it.
This piece is frustrating, because it could be true that Jewish authors are being informally boycotted, but “feels like” isn’t good enough.
I’d also ask about the content of the books. I imagine pro-Israel books (and especially, flattering portrayals of Netanyahu) right now are a harder sell. But I suspect that many publishers would jump at, say, “Homecoming: An Argument for Palestinian Statehood” (I made that very on-the-nose title up as an example), written by an Israeli or even just an American Jewish author.
There was a bit of this during some of the early protests on campuses, too. While there absolutely was some antisemitism at some of them, in others, the interviews were with Jewish students who were complaining about ANY anti-Israel protest, even one that wasn’t harassing other students. (A lot of the protestors were silly, too–there were points where it seemed like there were so many snowflakes on both sides that they’d have to cancel classes due to whiteout conditions.)
Especially telling was the suggestion that Jewish authors who didn’t come across as exceptionally Jewish might be getting through this blockade. Again, it might be true, but this might also be an alternate form of the No True Scotsman.
Hahahahaha very good.
Second… Checkpoints and vandalism of student/university property are unacceptable, but sorry, no one’s entitled to be liked.