Middle East Eye
Sally Rooney confirms 'Intermezzo' to be published in Hebrew, sparking online backlash
Sally Rooney confirms 'Intermezzo' to be published in Hebrew, sparking online backlash
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Hannah. Smith
on
Wed, 05/20/2026 - 13:23
The acclaimed author, a vocal supporter of Palestine, says the book will be published in line with BDS. But critics say the decision goes against the spirit of boycott
Copies of Irish author Sally Rooney's newly published book 'Intermezzo', are pictured in a book shop in London on 24 September 2024 (Ben Stansall/AFP)
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Irish author Sally Rooney, whose stance in support of Palestine has earned international attention, has confirmed that her latest book Intermezzo will be published in Hebrew, causing mixed reactions on social media.
A supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for several years, Rooney first gained attention for her stance to join the cultural boycott of Israeli institutions after turning down an offer from Israeli publisher Modan to have her third book translated into Hebrew in 2021.
In collaboration with Israeli publishing house November Books and Local Call, +972 Magazine announced on Tuesday that after five years of communicating with the author to ensure a translation could be published "in a way that honors the principles of the boycott and stands in solidarity with the Palestinian demand for freedom, equality, and justice", a Hebrew translation of the novel will soon be available in Israel and Palestine.
In an interview with the Guardian published to time with the announcement, Rooney said: “Though my refusal to work with complicit Israeli publishing houses made the contractual side of things more complex, I was, of course, never boycotting the Hebrew language or any language. I’m very pleased that Intermezzo will soon be available in Hebrew with November Books.”
Explaining why the publisher was deemed BDS-compliant, she said: “November Books does not operate in illegal Israeli settlements, receives no state funding and explicitly recognises the international legal rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return. I also kept in touch with PACBI [Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel] along the way to try to ensure that I was upholding both the letter and the spirit of the institutional boycott.”
Haggai Matar, executive director of +972, also clarified on X that PACBI, one of the founding members of the BDS movement, was consulted throughout the process.
We did— Haggai Matar (@Ha_Matar) May 19, 2026
In the announcement, the magazine referred to the PACBI guidelines, which state: “mere affiliation of Israeli cultural workers to an Israeli cultural institution is therefore not grounds for applying the boycott”.
In 2024, the Palestine Festival of Literature announced that over 1,000 authors had joined a pledge not to work with Israeli cultural institutions that are "silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians," of which Rooney was a signatory.
After investigating 98 Israeli publishers, they found that November Books was the only one that was exempt from the boycott since it did not meet the criteria, which include being "complicit in violating Palestinian rights," such as through "whitewashing and justifying Israel's occupation" or "having never publically recognised the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people".
'Creating loopholes'
Reacting to the news on X, however, several users expressed their confusion at the decision, citing concerns over whether the book centres Palestinian voices and suggesting that the publication of Rooney's novel in Hebrew does not align with the general purpose of boycotting Israeli cultural institutions.
I find this a genuinely baffling move by Rooney, even if, technically, it’s BDS compliant. It clearly runs against a spirit of culturally isolating “Israel”. At this point positing a “dissident” “Israeli” public or public sphere does normalisation work & mystifies. https://t.co/sXxF4bGWQR— Tom Gann (@Tom_Gann) May 20, 2026
Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd took to the platform to express criticism of the decision, describing it as “creating loopholes to bypass sanctions," adding that "the point of sanctions, including cultural, is to create conditions that lead Israelis to pressure their governments and leaders".
Explaining further, he questioned the tone of the announcement, which underscored the non-discriminatory and anti-racist nature of the BDS movement. "We are years into a genocide and it is as if we have learned nothing," he added.
The article says the motive behind this move is to upend the notion that BDS is antisemitic and discriminatory. Really? Seriously? Will the people who make these bad-faith accusations turn into born-again BDS enthusiasts? It is so hard to not feel completely dispirited by things…— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) May 19, 2026
In a written statement to MEE, Haggai Matar, the executive director of +972 Magazine said: "Everything we've done with this project is out of a deep commitment to the BDS guidelines, and fully in line with them," and highlighted the magazine's press statement - which outlines the reasoning for collaborating with November Books, as well as Rooney's interview with the Guardian.
Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American author and activist, wrote: “I find it inconsistent with their mission that they've been trying for years to find a way around BDS to publish Sally Rooney,” referencing the magazine’s statement that it had been working on achieving a Hebrew translation with the Normal People author for five years.
“I might find a thin thread of understanding if Sally's books were about national liberation struggles, anti-colonialism, Palestinian indigeneity, or regional history,” she continued, “but that's not the case here.”
On Instagram, she also commented under a post by +972 Magazine questioning the reasons for the decision to publish a translation. She said that as a Palestinian author, her work has not been sought out for translation in the same way.
In a similar comment, another user on X asked : "How does this benefit the people the article says it is trying to liberate?"
I’ll be honest, I guess I didn’t really consider one of the key aims of the BDS and boycott movement to be finagling creative new loopholes for ethical Israelis https://t.co/20hjBiNhza— merrow #SaveMasaferYatta (@CindyCalysm) May 20, 2026
Middle East scholar Khaldoun Khelil, quoting +972's co-founder who praised the announcement, said: "This is a meaningless gesture with no material benefit for Palestinians that actually benefits a minuscule number of Israelis but somehow it’s a 'huge' BDS victory."
Another user wrote: “Sally Rooney should know that this is a sham. A disgusting, insulting betrayal.”
A few people also expressed support for the book, with one user describing +972 Magazine as “one of the best and boldest media outlets operating between the River and the Sea.
“Rooney is a modern literary superstar… Their coming together is a wonderful thing,” he added.
Middle East Eye reached out to an agent representing Rooney, as well as the the BDS movement, for comment.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a statement from +971 Magazine director Haggai Matar.
Landing photo: Sally Rooney speaks during the Hulu segment of the 2020 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on 17 January 2020 (Amy Sussman/Getty Images/AFP).
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