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Real Ridley Road
VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 14 October 2021
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8 Cheshvan 5782
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Issue No.1232
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@JewishNewsUK
The heroes who fought fascism in the Swinging Sixties Page 9
Spreading the word!
Young writers’ contest Page 24
Culture clubbed Normal People author sparks outrage after refusing Hebrew translation of new book Bestselling author Sally Rooney has been accused of “antisemitism in a new guise” after refusing to allow an Israeli company to publish her new novel in Hebrew, writes Lee Harpin. The Irish writer confirmed she had declined an offer from the Modan publishing house to translate Beautiful World, Where Are You and labelled Israel an apartheid state based on a “system of racial domination”. Rooney’s first two novels, Conversations With Friends and Normal People, were both published by Modan in Hebrew. Beautiful World, published in September, has already topped the book sales chart in the UK. In a statement released on Tuesday, the 30-year-old attempted to deny she had enforced a ban on the novel being translated into Hebrew. The self-declared Marxist said Hebrew-language translation rights were “still available” but only “if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] movement’s institutional boycott guidelines”. But Israel’s diaspora minister, Nachman Shai, has strongly condemned Rooney’s actions saying: “The cultural boycott of Israel, antisemitism in a new guise, is a certificate of poor conduct for her and others who behave like her.” Meanwhile, Board of Deputies vice-president David Mendoza-Wolfson accused the author of taking part in a “masterclass of disingenuity” by saying that she would not allow her book to be published in “the language of the Jewish people unless it is permitted by those who advocate the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state”. Labour’s Dame Louise Ellman joined the criticism of Rooney, saying:”It is very disturbing that the world’s only Jewish majority state is being singled out.” On the Jewish-American site Forward Dr Gitit Levy-Paz, a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, wrote: “The very essence of literature, its power to bring a sense of coherence and order to the world, is negated by Rooney’s Continued on page 11
RED AND ROCKY, WITH REMNANTS OF FALAFEL There is one corner of an Israeli desert that will forever be Mars after scientists began a month-long simulation of what it will be like to live on the red planet. The team of six stationed themselves this week in the Ramon Crater, beneath a rocky step in the Negev, to prepare for future missions to the planet, 154 million miles away. Meanwhile, Jewish Star Trek actor William Shatner (centre, inset) launched into space yesterday on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Video report at jewishnews.co.uk