Source: The Atlantic
by Arash Azizi
“I am as horrified as anyone by Israel’s brutal and criminal war in Gaza and its decades-long regime of occupation. As a writer, my primary solidarity is with the dozens of journalists killed in the conflict in the past year, the majority of whom were Palestinian. But I also have no doubt as to which side of this literary civil war I am on. I’ve never joined a cultural boycott of any country — not Israel, not Russia, and not Iran, my own country of birth. The latter informs my outlook on the issue. … This world is full of walls that divide peoples, and of regimes that impose ideological purity tests on writers. If writers are to use our collective powers, it should not be to add to them.” (11/20/24)