The Irish novelist Sally Rooney is releasing a Hebrew translation of her latest novel more than four years after she turned down a translation of an earlier novel, citing her support for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Rooney is publishing her bestselling 2024 novel, Intermezzo, through November Books, an independent Israeli publisher that supports Palestinian rights, with +972 Magazine and Local Call, two independent media outlets in Israel and Palestine.
The 35-year-old has published four wildly popular novels that have been translated into dozens of languages. The first two – Conversations with Friends and Normal People – were translated into Hebrew by the Israeli publisher Modan. But in 2021, Rooney turned down a translation offer from the publisher for her third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, citing her desire to support the BDS movement, a Palestinian-led, global campaign that seeks to “end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law”.
In a conversation with Irish Palestinian artist and activist Samir Eskanda published on Tuesday, Rooney spoke about her regret at having once worked with a publisher she later realized had ties to the Israeli military.
“How could my actions be so inconsistent with my beliefs?” she said. By the time her third book was published, she added, “I had also become something of a public figure, and I felt a greater sense of responsibility in making decisions around my work.”
Modan did not respond to a request for comment.
November Books is the only Israeli publisher that meets conditions the BDS movement has set for exemption from the boycott. It does not operate in illegal Israeli settlements, receives no Israeli state funding and explicitly recognises the legal rights of Palestinians, including the right of return for Palestinian refugees, Rooney said. It has also published translations of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Naomi Klein’s books, along with a novel by Irish writer Colum McCann, which other Israeli publishers reportedly refused to translate.
Ishai Menuchin, November Books’s director, said in a statement that “publishing books by authors associated with the boycott movement demonstrates to Israeli readers that opposition to occupation, apartheid and genocide is what lies at the heart of the boycott – a clearly legitimate form of political protest”.
Rooney faced significant backlash when she announced her position – with some, including a senior Israeli official, calling it “the cultural boycott of Israel antisemitism in a new guise”. Others criticized her for refusing a Hebrew translation while allowing her novels to be translated in other countries with a record of human rights abuses.
But Rooney said she was boycotting the Israeli cultural sector’s “complicity” in the country’s apartheid system – not the Hebrew language or Israeli readers themselves.
“For me, the act of translation is in itself a beautiful ideal,” Rooney said. “Though my refusal to work with complicit Israeli publishing houses made the contractual side of things more complex, I was, of course, never boycotting the Hebrew language or any language.” Eskanda also noted in the conversation with Rooney that the boycott targets “institutions rather than individuals, and complicity, not identity”.
“Our task as a movement is to channel anger at Israel’s genocide in Gaza into the most meaningful initiatives,” he added.
Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the boycott movement has grown exponentially over the last two decades. Since Israel’s war on Gaza in 2023, thousands of artists, musicians and film workers have expressed their refusal, on ethical grounds, to work with Israeli cultural institutions deemed complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights. At least 2,000 arts organisations, including major film festivals, theatres and museums, have signed on. The boycott of Israeli publishers has received the support of more than 7,000 authors and advocacy groups.
Rooney has also expressed support for the group Palestine Action, which has been banned in the UK under the Terrorism Act, drawing widespread criticism for conflating protest with terrorism. Rooney has said that it was “almost certain” she would no longer be able to publish new work in the UK while the ban on Palestine Action remained in effect. The UK high court recently ruled that the ban was unlawful in a decision that is under appeal.
Rooney said that when she first spoke out about Palestinian rights and in favor of the BDS movement, she was warned she had “effectively ended” her career. But while she acknowledged facing some backlash, she cautioned against self-censorship and fear.
“When I do feel that I’m right, I’m not much bothered by criticism,” she added. “Who has ever stood up against injustice without being criticised? If that’s all I have to endure, then it’s very little.”
