Above photo: Protesters attend a demonstration against the Italian government’s proposed budget law and in support of Palestinians in Rome, Italy, on November 29, 2025. Riccardo De Luca – Anadolu Agency.
Amid widening cultural boycott.
The organisers of a major international children’s book fair in Italy have barred an Israeli state-backed literary body from participating, in what is being seen as another indication of the growing cultural boycott of Israel, a state now almost universally accused by human rights experts and legal scholars of committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Haaretz reported that the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the world’s largest and longest-running event dedicated exclusively to children’s literature, barred the Israeli Institute for Hebrew Literature from participating in this year’s fair, which is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors from across the global publishing industry.
The institute, which is publicly funded and supported by Israel’s ministries of culture and foreign affairs, was established to promote Israeli literature abroad. It made its first appearance at an international book fair last year, hosting an official booth at the Frankfurt International Book Fair.
According to reports, when the institute applied to host a stand at the Bologna fair, organisers informed it that the fair’s board had rejected the request and ruled that an official Israeli state body would not be permitted to exhibit. No detailed public explanation has been provided for the decision.
Held annually in the spring, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is regarded as one of the most influential events in the global publishing calendar. It draws publishers, literary agents, authors, illustrators and distributors from around the world. Alongside commercial publishers, the fair traditionally hosts official, state-funded stands that promote national children’s literature.
Members of Israel’s publishing industry regularly attend the event in a private capacity, and international cultural institutes from numerous countries maintain a visible presence through official booths.
The decision comes amid a broader political context in Italy. In September last year, Italian media reported that an Israeli booth would not be permitted at a tourism fair in Rimini following a joint appeal by the city’s mayor and the president of the Emilia-Romagna region, of which Bologna is the capital. In May, regional president Michele de Pascale reportedly suspended official ties between regional institutions and Israeli state bodies.
During the 2025 edition of the Bologna fair, the group Publishers for Palestine publicly criticised the event for what it described as its “silence in the face of the horrifying ongoing violence against Palestinian children.” Although the fair featured an illustration exhibition titled Drawing for Palestine, it did not include an official Israeli booth.
