German-Israeli Literature Days in Berlin for the Middle East War!

German-Israeli Literature Days in Berlin for the Middle East War!

Berlin, Deutschland - The German-Israeli Literature Days in Berlin were canceled. The reason for this is the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has changed the security situation since June 13th. The organizers said that a meeting in the capital was no longer possible under these circumstances. The literary days were originally supposed to take place on June 19 and 22 and would have offered an important platform for the cultural exchange between Germany and Israel. In view of the current situation, however, an exit of the invited Israeli authors is currently not possible, which made the cancellation necessary. This information was confirmed by rbb24

The cancellation of the literary days was not only accompanied by the organizers, but also by numerous critical voices from the cultural scene. In an ever polarized discussion about the Middle East conflict, the question of how artists and cultural workers should deal with current reality. The war between Israel and Iran, which has increased in intensity again in recent weeks, leads to additional pressure and uncertainty. Guide institutions such as the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation and the Goethe Institute, which have organized the event together, plan to get together in the next few weeks to advise on possible next steps.

a split cultural company

The cancellation of the German-Israeli Literary Days shows how much the Middle East conflict the German cultural scene divides. As part of an event in Osnabrück, the effects of the conflict on the German cultural business were recently discussed. A film by the Israeli artist Nir Evron and Omer Krieger was also presented here, who deals with the Kibbutz Be’eri, who was affected by Hamas attacks in 2023. Moderator Ann-Katrin Günzel mentioned the extreme split in the cultural company, which is not only due to verbal but also to actual violence. This is also evident in the personal concerns of artists to reject the invitations to events in order not to be "examined", which could potentially restrict the plurality in the cultural company, as in an article [-NDR.de-] (https://www.ndr.de/kultur/podiums-Hiebsteit-Asost-Spalt-deutsche-KulturS scene, culture operation108.html) is treated.

The discussion about culture and the Middle East conflict received new impetus from the statements of Yuval Abraham, who criticized the unequal treatment of Palestinians and Israelis at the Berlinale and used the term "apartheid". Wolfgang Ullrich noted that the conflict is a major problem for the art business, as it remains unclear who is the actual victim. Mira Anneli Naß reported that the global art world is critically tuned to Israel, while German politics wishes to deal sensitive.

path forward

The debates within the cultural scene could serve as a necessary starting shot for further discussions. Uta Reindl called for a greater conflict ability of the cultural company in order to be able to discuss significant topics better. The goal should be that the discourse does not stop and less anxious. The organizers of the canceled literary days face a challenge on how to create a platform for exchange in the future without endangering the safety of the participants.