Bosnian writer breaks with German publisher over war on Gaza

Bosnian writer Lana Bastasic has announced the termination of her contract with a German publishing house due to its stance on the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

In a post on Instagram yesterday, Bastasic wrote that publisher S. Fischer Verlag remained silent in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and she terminated her contract in protest.

“Given the global political context we find ourselves in right now,” she explained on Instagram, “I feel  that it is my moral and ethical duty to terminate my contracts with S. Fischer.”

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“Not only has my publisher failed to be vocal about the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza, but they have also kept quiet on the systemic and systematic censorship happeing in Germany for the last two months.”

She went on to highlight the plight of Jewish artists, writers and scholars who have been “silenced in Germany”, with many losing their jobs, or having “their name publicly tarnished”, adding that her publisher had “obviously failed in their attempts to ght antisemitism when it comes to these cases.”

Since 7 October Israel has been carrying out a genocidal bombing campaign in Gaza in which it has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, about 70 per cent of whom are children and women.

WATCH: Palestinians in northern Gaza inspect extent of damage inflicted by Israeli troops