Jakarta, IO – The Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI) together with the Education and Culture Ministry Book Agency cancelled participation in the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair which will be held on October 18-22 in Germany.
This step decision was taken in response to Frankfurter Buchmesse’s statement of support for Jews and Israel amid the armed conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, per Detikcom, Tuesday (17/10).
“IKAPI as an organization rejects the position of the Frankfurt Book Fair which supports and provides a wider platform for Israel this year and denies the Palestinian people’s rights to independence,” said IKAPI chairman Arys Hilman Nugraha.
Arys also said that his party denounced the decision of the Frankfurt Book Fair organizers to cancel the award to Palestinian writer Adania Shibli.
He considered the Frankfurt Book Fair, the oldest book trade fair in the world, to be biased in its decision and gave preferential treatment to Israeli writers.
“Siding with Israel while forgetting the suffering of the Palestinian people is like reading only one book to feel like you understand the whole world,” said Arys.
“It also seemed to reflect the support for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.”
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Arys said that IKAPI’s view clearly sees Palestine as a colonized country whose people were expelled from their own land. This is in line with Indonesia’s position which stands with Palestine.
“The Indonesian government and people have always been on the side of the Palestinian people in their fight for independence,” he explained. (un)