Murakami, the Jerusalem Award is Drenched in Palestinian Blood!
I have been a fan of Haruki Murakami’s novels since I randomly picked up Norwegian Wood at the local library in 2006. As much as I’ve bemoaned my reading speed lately, it seems I can always finish his stuff quickly.
But I also have a conscience, and I’m also outraged by what Israel have done to the Palestinians.
So it was with horror that I learnt Murakami is accepting the 2009 Jerusalem award at the Jerusalem Book Fair. This fair is supported by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the award is meant to be in praise of the winner’s contribution to “individuals’ freedom in society.”
Try telling that to the one and a half million Palestinians under siege in the Gaza Strip!
The Palestinian Forum Japan issued an open letter to Haruki Murakami, asking him to refuse to accept the award saying,
“We ask you to seriously reconsider the social and political significance of a world-famous author such as yourself participating in the book fair…If you receive the “Jerusalem Prize” it will contribute to a false image of Israel respecting “individuals’ freedom in society” which will be portrayed and spread by the media.”
Accepting the award amounts to support for the Israeli state and their brutal war crimes. This is not acceptable.
Some people might think that it is a harmless award and doesn’t amount to much at all; as if it’s still an honour of his achievements as a writer. But would these people react the same way if a writer or their favourite celebrity accepted an award from say, Nazi Germany or any other dictator?!
Is it too political to boycott an award? Well, I think it’s political to accept the award. Murakami has been put in a position where he has to take a side. Is he for Israel killing Palestinians, or is he for the freedom of these people? There’s no fence to sit on!
Shame on Murakami if he chooses to accept the award. My conscience will be too strong to do anything other than look at his works with a new, ashamed light, if he chooses to do so.
The full letter is included below:
Update 1st March 2009: Murakami accepted the award despite protests from people with a conscience. The text of the speech can be found here. His speech is full of wishy-washy post-modernist wank that doesn’t make much sense at all. Though he is at least midlly critical of the assault.
Dear Mr. Haruki Murakami:
We ask you to withdraw from the Jerusalem Book Fair and receipt of the “Jerusalem Prize.”
We have heard the news that you are going to participate in the 24th Jerusalem International Book Fair from 15 to 20 February, and will be awarded the “Jerusalem Prize.” We are terribly shocked.
We ask you to seriously reconsider the social and political significance of a world-famous author such as yourself participating in the book fair, which is fully supported by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and the City of Jerusalem, and receiving the award from the mayor of Jerusalem, when Israel has just taken more than 1,300 precious lives, injured more than 5,300 people, including 500 who are seriously wounded, and destroyed a tremendous number of lives in Gaza and thus committed a series of war crimes.
What we are particularly concerned about is the purpose of the “Jerusalem Prize,” being to praise one’s contribution to “individuals’ freedom in society.” This concept is in total contradiction of Israel’s criminal acts such as massacre, collective punishment, blockade policy, construction of settlements and building of the “separation wall” in East Jerusalem that are effectively eliminating Palestinians’ freedom. If you receive the “Jerusalem Prize” it will contribute to a false image of Israel respecting “individuals’ freedom in society” which will be portrayed and spread by the media. We fear that the unimaginable devastation of humanity which Israel has inflicted continuously and systematically upon Palestinians will be disregarded and Israel’s actions will be accepted. Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, has said there was “a prima facie case” that Israel gravely breached the Geneva Conventions during its 22-day campaign in Gaza. Citizens’ groups in Europe are preparing to bring the persons responsible before an international tribunal. To avoid the recurrence of this massacre, which reminded us of the Warsaw Ghetto, the international community has to acquit the moral obligation, and send the message “Do not allow, condone or forget [the] massacre” to defiant Israel. We regard the receipt of the “Jerusalem Prize” as obviously contradicting this cause.
Furthermore, Mr. Nir Barkat, who was elected mayor of Jerusalem in November last year, is supporting the continued expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, just as his predecessors. Making Jerusalem the capital, the annexation of East Jerusalem and the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem are all in violation of international law, but Israel claims these to be accomplished facts. This results in keeping true peace far away, and not only in Jerusalem but all Palestinians in the occupied territory become victims of the apartheid policy. We would have to say that Palestinians’ “individual freedom in society” is completely suppressed by Israel. Hence receiving the “Jerusalem Prize” from the mayor of Jerusalem, Mr. Barkat who is in charge of this oppression, contributes towards hiding and vindicating Israel’s apartheid policy all the more. We believe that this is not your intention.
Please turn your attention to the Palestinians, who are being denied their freedom and dignity as human beings and resisting by surviving everyday life. We would humbly ask you to consider the effects your receipt of the “Jerusalem Prize” would have, what sort of message the world would receive in this Middle East situation, what kind of propaganda value it could have to Israel and the possibility of aggravating the critical situation Palestinians are facing.
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Technorati Tags: Murakami, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Jerusalem, Book Fair, Award
There are 9 Comments to "Murakami, the Jerusalem Award is Drenched in Palestinian Blood!"
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Well said. Murakami should not accept the award, at least not from this Likudist right-wing goverment. Time to treat the Israeli goverment the way the Apartheid goverment in SA was treated, with boycotts, protests and utter and complete contempt.
That’s exactly the right analogy! People boycott regimes like this, except people don’t want to do it to Israel as if they’re not as extreme – probably because people think the US backing them gives them so legitimacy…
Did you listen to his speech today? He mentioned Palestinian issue in it.
I haven’t heard it. Do you have a link to the text?
Now you can find many articles about his speech on the Internet. For example,
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96CCF7G0&show_article=1
Unfortunately, all of them are very simple and mention only abstract ”egg and wall” story.
I’ve read the Japanese translation of the speech. It says that Haruki mentioned tanks, rockets bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and so on.
I guess that the Western news media may not want to write the detail for Israel….
Thanks very much Yuka for the article. I will keep looking for an English version of the speech.
It shows that he is critical, which is good. And from that article obviously he’s upset some pro-Israel people – also good
Please visit again. Your comments are much appreciated.
FYI: My take on Murakami: Haruki (Jerusalem Prize) Murakami at Middle East Reality Check
http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com
Thanks MERC, I checked out your blog. Nice read and thanks for citing the speech. I’ve been looking for that everywhere!
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