WRITTEN BY: Stanislava Paunović
Despite publicly available information about collective punishment and ethnic cleansing of the territory, through targeting of Palestinian civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, humanitarian aid, etc. – the genocide that Israel is intensively and daily perpetrating on the occupied Palestinian territory has brought with it a wave of silence and fear among writers. Fearing for their own financial security, they often fall into the trap of self-censorship, or often open support for the occupiers. The fact that few speak out can be understood in the context of the functioning of the field of contemporary literary production (not necessarily literature), which includes: project funding, scholarships, residencies, publishers, literary evenings, invitations to events, festivals, etc. In fear of losing opportunities, or acquiring a “bad reputation” that, in the context of institutional cancel culture, marks a person as politically unsuitable for further cooperation, up to physical arrests at protests or the initiation of proceedings and investigations – writers remain silent. The scale of the destruction in Gaza, through the collapse of basic humanistic values, calls once again for their responsibility, while the need to (pro)speak about the suffering and the victims, about those who are silenced and oppressed on the edge of existence, grows day by day, to the extent that it is increasingly incredible to understand: we are witnessing genocide .
congratulations, but
In the following text, we will try to look at some of the factors that have led to the formation of this atmosphere, primarily in Germany, where the situation is most intense, [1] using the essay "In the Shadow of the Holocaust" by Masha Gessen, [2] published in the New Yorker magazine (December 9, 2023). "In the Shadow of the Holocaust" provides a detailed insight into the history of events that led to the current legalization of cultural censorship in Germany, through policies that equate anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, that is, denying a source of funding to any critical speech against Israeli policies or expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people, given that the preservation of Israel is emphasized as a Staatsräson - or fundamental duty of the German state.
The practice of censoring free speech through the economic blockade of previous sources of funding, which directly threatens the ability of many cultural workers to secure a basic existence, was further strengthened in 2019 when the German parliament passed a resolution characterizing the Palestinian BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement as anti-Semitic. In the wake of Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, and the Israeli retaliation that followed, financial censorship in Germany intensified with a proposal to amend the policy for funding all cultural institutions and events with a new clause that adds hate speech/acts against the state of Israel to the already controversial IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism. In order for individuals or collectives to be eligible to receive state money, they would have to commit to the aforementioned clause on paper, which many have already recognized as a threat to freedom of speech.
Ironically, it was precisely because of the aforementioned essay that Masha Gessen was denied the originally planned celebration of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought, after two sponsors withdrew from the award, based on a part of the essay in which Gessen compared the condition of the occupied Palestinian people to the Jewish ghetto during World War II. Although the Hannah Arendt Association, which awards the prize, pointed out the absurdity of the situation, the fact that the flows of money are reflected in the (un)freedom of speech in this micro-case illustrates the mechanisms of tolerance of genocide in a broader perspective.
Similar circumstances befell Palestinian author Adania Shibli, who was due to receive the LiBeraturpreis at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair for her book Sporedan detalju, also published in Buybook in 2022, translated by Mirza Sarajkić. However, on 13 October, the organiser of the Litprom Prize informed the public that the ceremony, as well as the accompanying public discussion on the novel, would not take place at the fair. Shortly before that, in response to Hamas attacks, the Frankfurt Fair had announced its intention to provide more space for the visibility of Israeli voices during the event. However, as over 1,500 signatories of a letter of support for Adania Shibli pointed out – this effort should not be achieved by further marginalising Palestinian voices. What kind of minor detail was it that bothered the organisers? [3]
Through persistent confrontation with the devastating silence, as one of the central themes of the novel An Incidental Detail, the need to secure a space for one's own speech is recognized. That of the Other, dehumanized, animalized – reduced to barking, to "human animals", [4] insects, inarticulate crying, a shadow, but also an emptiness that echoes through space . The backbone of the novel is the kidnapping, rape and murder of an Arab girl in August 1949 by Israeli soldiers. The first part is narrated from the perspective of an Israeli commander who at times feels the aforementioned crime, which takes place over several days, as a disturbing circumstance, a detail that disrupts his daily routine (rituals of washing and reconnaissance walks), or helps to temporarily divert attention from the bite wound that progressively festering throughout the text . The second part of the novel brings a search for the perspective of the story from the perspective of the victimized girl, which is taken on by a Palestinian woman born on the 25th anniversary of the aforementioned suffering. Trying to find the crime scene, as well as sources about the girl's identity, a Palestinian journalist sets off on a journey into the forbidden Israeli zone, where she herself dies in an attempt to make amends for the injustice done - failing in her intention to give voice to the Other Perspective. Although every reading of the novel An Incidental Detail breaks the aforementioned silence, the Frankfurt Book Fair has opened anew the void. One of the responses to the novel's censorship was heard on October 22 in Berlin, refracted through the voices of more than 250 volunteers who came to a multilingual (Arabic, English, German), public reading of the novel, organized by Hopscotch Reading Room, Khan Aljanub and the Berlin Writers Workshop.
all that has been destroyed and is being destroyed
The authors of the middle and younger generations of our literary scenes have for some time now become part of the nomadic regime of writing, moving between residencies and translations, European literary awards, festivals and fairs. This network includes, among others, Lana Bastašić ( Catch the Rabbit , Milk Teeth , Red Suitcase ...), who has been living and working in Germany in recent years. It is certain that, especially in our region, Bastašić is not the only one who recognizes what occupation means, and she is not the only one who values the anti-fascist struggle - however, she seems to be one of the few who uncompromisingly maintain the only possible logical position.
In her article for the Guardian on 23 October 2023, Bastašić draws parallels between the way the image of the Muslim Other is constructed, both during the war in Bosnia and Serbian media propaganda, and in the case of Palestine. [5] Conscious of the consequences of the blood-soaked silence, Bastašić feels the same silence in Germany, warning of its danger, especially considering that part of the German population's taxes go to finance the bombing of Gaza, which leaves no possibility of "neutrality". Through the article, as in her posts on social networks, the author emphasizes the need to fight fascism in all its forms - whether it occurs in a terrorist group, or as state government terrorism. Due to the reaction to the aforementioned essay, Bastašić canceled a guest appearance at Humboldt University, following indications that it would be used to relativize the suffering in Gaza.
Consistent with the only possible human(istic) position, Bastašić announced on January 15, 2024, the termination of her contract with her (German) publisher (S. Fischer Verlag). Feeling it as a moral and ethical duty, she reacted to the publisher's lack of a clear position on the genocide in Gaza and the systemic censorship implemented in Germany, while their website publicly condemned only the Hamas attack of October 7. Without any self-promotional tendencies, with words of support but also a wave of misunderstanding, Bastašić manages to keep the focus of the discourse on raising awareness about the suffering of the Palestinians. According to the model already mentioned, now as a politically "unsuitable" writer - after the termination of the contract , her residency at the Literaturhaus NÖ and her guest appearance at the Salzburg Literature Festival were also canceled . By clearly speaking out against those who, in the given circumstances of unequal military and political power, try to remain “neutral,” Bastašić exposes the misconception that institutions that cancel visits – “not wanting to position themselves” – can be considered as such. He also directs the same criticism at colleagues who, fearing financial uncertainty, refuse to use their platforms for independent reporting on the situation in Gaza, defying the paid propaganda of mass media, online advertising , and imperialist governments.
Precisely in the context of the voice that establishes and maintains the memory of everything that has been destroyed and is being destroyed, quoting Lana Bastašić's response to the organizers of the Salzburg Festival - it should be underlined: "Although I am aware that the financial support you receive as part of the system must have made you forget the meaning of art, I would like to remind you that (fortunately for dangerous writers like me), you are not Literature. Your money is not Literature. S. Fischer is not Literature. Germany is not Literature. And we, the writers, will remember."
It seems completely incredible that we witness again and again how egos tucked away in European funds continue to swim in the silence of a career, and why it is even necessary to talk about personal views when it comes to genocide. With the hope that there will be more of them, writers, who will remember – uncompromisingly and not for the sake of accumulating their own capital – I add that there will be more of us, readers, who will also remember, against the silence that echoes through space.
[1] Similar developments and state policies are also recognized in the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America, and the like.
[2] Translations from English are provided by the author (SP), unless otherwise stated.
[3] In an interview with John Freeman, the author singles out as a potential motive for the cancellation of the event a review of The Side Story published just before the fair, in which journalist Carsten Otte complained that in the novel “all Israelis are nameless rapists and murderers, while Palestinians are victims of poisoned occupiers, quick on the trigger.” Shibli points out that in the novel, the Palestinians are also nameless, and that the Arabs are first introduced into the text as shadows in the soldiers’ sights.
[4] This phrase was used by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 9, 2023, speaking about Israel's enemies, while the same was repeated by the Chief Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, addressing the residents of Gaza directly: "Human animals should be treated as such. There will be no electricity or water, only destruction. You wanted hell, you will get it."
[5] The Palestinian resistance poet Mahmoud Darwish, in his collection State of Siege (Buybook, 2022, translated from Arabic by Mirza Sarajkić), written under occupation in 2002, finds the answer in moments of crisis in an attempt to overcome the polarization of us – them. Through empathy, he calls on Israeli soldiers to see their mutual similarities, that Palestinians are beings like them, to become acquainted with the verses of their most beautiful poetry , to recognize the closeness in the suffering of collective suffering, which is familiar to both us and them, etc.