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.