It’s not easy to find Sally Rooney’s novels in Israel.
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 global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.
In response, Israel’s two largest booksellers, Steimatzky and Tsomet Sefarim, pulled all of her novels from their shelves. The two chains, with more than 200 bookshops across Israel as well as dominant online retail platforms, control the Israeli market, making it almost impossible to find Sally Rooney titles save for a handful of independent, progressive outlets.
One of them, Migdalor in Tel Aviv, says Rooney’s books continue to be popular, in particular the Hebrew translations. They have sold hundreds of copies of each title, including her bestselling 2024 novel Intermezzo, which she published through November Books, an independent Israeli publisher that meets conditions set by the BDS movement for exemption from the boycott.
Those conditions include not operating in occupied territory or receiving state funding and expressing support for the Palestinian cause, including the controversial right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Sally Rooney’s books can, however, be found in Palestinian bookstores in East Jerusalem.
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Mahmoud Muna is the owner of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem’s main Salah al-Din Street and the iconic Bookshop at the American Colony hotel.
Both stores were selling Sally Rooney books long before she became embroiled in the Israel-Palestine conflict although demand soared after Israeli bookshops stopped selling her titles. Israeli customers now account for about 20 per cent of sales. Muna also distributes Rooney’s books to Palestinian bookshops in Ramallah and Bethlehem and a small store in Hebron.
“This morning we sold another two copies because she’s in the news again. Often, it’s people buying her books as a gift for friends. Normal People is the most popular but we’ve sold hundreds of her books over the years,” Muna told The Irish Times.
“I’m in favour of people who have a platform using it to support voices that promote liberty, freedom and justice. That includes writers, artists and sportsmen and women,” Muna said.
“Every act of art is political at its core and in that sense they have a right to say whatever they want. I would want Rooney’s voice and other voices to be heard.”
The BDS movement said it had evaluated 98 Israeli publishers and found that only November Books met its conditions for exemption.
The backlash in Israel against Rooney was not long coming. One official described the cultural boycott of Israel as “anti-Semitism in a new guise”. Other critics noted that Rooney allowed her novels to be translated in other countries with a record of human rights abuses.