A bookseller stressed that Fayard’s controversial decision is a bad sign that points to an increasing pressure to limit the expression of dissenting voices in France.
- Safaa Kasraoui
- Dec. 19, 2023 1:16 p.m.
The translated edition of “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.
Rabat – French publisher Fayard has sparked controversy with its decision to cease the publication of the translated edition of “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.
The book discusses the deliberate destruction of Palestinian villages as well as the massacres of Palestinians and their expulsion from their homes at gunpoint by Israeli occupation forces.
French news outlet Actualitte explored the case in more detail, quoting testimonies from a bookseller who was “shocked” to hear about the decision.
Patrick Bobulesco, a bookseller at Point du Jour in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, emphasized that the book had been among the best sellers amid the Israeli aggression in Gaza, where nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7.
When he went to order new copies, he was told that the book was “permanently discontinued for sale.”
Commenting on the news, he told Actualitte that he was “shocked” by the decision to remove the book from the sales catalogs, adding that the removal is a bad sign “especially in a context where the need to know and have information is more crucial than ever to understand the current events.”
For Bobulesco, the removal of the book sends a bad sign not only to the public but also in “editorial and academic circles.”
“It suggests increasing pressure to limit the expression of dissenting voices in France, which is worrying for diversity of perspectives, like academic freedom,” he said.
Out of the overall number of copies sold this year, 307, about 158 were sold between October 9-15 and November 6-12, with the book’s sales witnessing a surge since Israel launched its bloody war in Gaza.
Fayard, according to ActuaLlite, attempted to disassociate its decision to remove the book from the Israeli aggression.
The news outlet quoted Press Service Manager and Communication Director of Fayard Maxime Lledo, who claimed that the removal of the book was due to the expiration of the title’s contract.
Lledo said that the contract was “null and void” from February 27, 2022, so the publisher decided to stop selling the book on November 3.
The news outlet questioned the publisher’s explanation, however, pointing out that the book remained on bookstore shelves for a full 21 months following the alleged expiration of the contract.
“Why at this precise moment then?” the news outlet said, stressing that one of the hypotheses is that the publisher sought not to engage itself in “adding fuel to the fire in an already tense moment.”
“Just the title of the book, ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,’ can be a problem for many,” the news outlet pointed out.
Not the first, not the last
This is not the first time a similar controversy has taken place in France amid the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza.
Earlier this month, France revoked the Simone Veil prize from French-Moroccan journalist Zineb El Rhazoui due to her pro-Palestine position.
Valerie Pecresse, President of the regional council of Ile-de-France, announced that the decision to revoke the award from the journalist came in response to El Rhazoui’s social media post, where she accused Israeli occupation forces of “genocide.”
For Percesse, the journalist’s comments “terribly hurt” French people who lived through the Holocaust.
Pecresse said on X, formerly Twitter, that the journalist’s “courage” and the “fight against Islamism” led the region to award her the prize in 2019.
“But her recent statements… have terribly hurt our compatriots who experienced the barbarity of the Holocaust,” the French politician said.
El Rhazaoui responded to the decision, stressing that she does not want the prize if she cannot express her sentiment over the killing of innocent Palestinians.
“By denouncing the mass crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, just like the crimes of Hamas against Israeli civilians, I am honoring Simone Veil’s legacy more than ever,” she said.
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Categories: France