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Sally Rooney, Esteemed writer Deborah Levy, Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux, as well as Pulitzer recipient Viet Thanh Nguyen are among a group of twenty writers calling upon France's leader Emmanuel Macron to reinstate a “lifeline” programme for Palestinian writers, scholars and artists from Gaza.

Initiative Halt Over Alleged Remarks

The Pause programme for writers and artists in emergency situations, along with a academic rescue effort, were abruptly suspended by the authorities in France at the beginning of August following a Gazan scholar’s allegedly antisemitic online remarks—a decision that the petitioning writers described as constituted a “collective punishment”.

“As writers, we strongly encourage you to reinstate this vital program as soon as possible, and to urge other heads of state to establish comparable initiatives”, says the appeal, which was sent to Macron’s office recently.

Prominent Supporters

Further signatories include Nobel winners Abdulrazak Gurnah and JMG Le Clézio, as well as Anne Enright, Leïla Slimani, Madeleine Thien, Édouard Louis, Isabella Hammad, Didier Eribon, Naomi Klein, Max Porter, Alain Damasio, Mathias Énard, Kapka Kassabova, Karim Kattan plus Rashid Khalidi.

Background of the Programme

This assistance effort was set up by the national authorities in partnership with the Collège de France in 2017 to help international scholars, researchers, thinkers and artists who find themselves in dangerous conditions. The program has provided French talent visas and essential aid for individuals from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

Assistance to Palestinians

Since the start of the war in Gaza in late 2023, a total of 31 Palestinian artists, authors and academics and their families have been sheltered in France through these evacuation initiatives.

Official Reaction

Yet, on 1 August, top diplomat Jean-Noël Barrot declared that “no evacuation of any kind” would proceed while authorities were investigating disputed anti-Jewish comments posted by a woman scholar who had entered the country from Gaza during summer and was scheduled to begin classes at a French institute this fall.

“This suspension of evacuation programmes on the basis of one case involving offensive online content is a type of group retribution when all parties bound by the Genocide Conventions should be doing their utmost to save Palestinians from annihilation and should refuse to be complicit in crimes against humanity”, the letter to the president says.