Sally Rooney’s book won’t be published in Hebrew because there’s no such thing as a “BDS-compliant” Hebrew publisher. To be that, a publisher would have to agree to not selling its books in Israel and to Israelis who are is the overwhelming majority of the Hebrew-reading market.>
What’s useful about this silly episode isn’t what it tells as about Rooney (I’ve no idea if she’s an antisemite tho some think her portrayal of Jewish characters is questionable) is that it clarifies what BDS is. Read its “rules”. It isn’t about the occupation, it’s about Israel>
Under “BDS rules” Ben & Jerry’s for example isn’t BDS-compliant because they’re willing to continue selling ice cream in Israel, just not in the West Bank settlements. Rooney and any other author can’t be BDS-compliant without boycotting all Hebrew-readers. That’s BDS.
All this explains why “BDS” has been around for 16 years but asides from generating a lot of noise, has had zero impact on Israel which has seen massive growth in foreign trade and ties during that period. It’s nothing more than a social media wheeze of western keyboard warriors.
Personally I don’t buy settlement goods and support any individual who boycotts the settlements, but BDS isn’t about the settlements, it’s about boycotting all of Israel, which is why it’s such a failure and helps boost the settlers by making Israelis think “they hate all of us”.
It doesn’t necessarily mean all BDS-supporters are antisemites. It just means that if you’re going to comply with “BDS rules” without thinking of the implications of boycotting the only Jewish nation-state, you’ll find yourself in some tricky situations regarding Jews in general.
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