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Sally Rooney, Esteemed writer Deborah Levy, Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux, and Pulitzer recipient Viet Thanh Nguyen are among 20 authors urging France's leader Emmanuel Macron to resume a critical evacuation initiative for Palestinian writers, academics and artists from Gaza.

Programme Suspension Due to Disputed Comments

The Pause programme for authors and creatives in emergency situations, along with a academic rescue effort, were abruptly suspended by the authorities in France in early August over a Gazan scholar’s allegedly antisemitic online remarks—an action that the letter-writing authors said amounted to a “collective punishment”.

“In our capacity as authors, we strongly encourage you to restore this lifeline without delay, and to urge other heads of state to create similar programmes”, says the appeal, which was sent to Macron’s office on Friday.

Prominent Supporters

Further signatories include Nobel winners Abdulrazak Gurnah and JMG Le Clézio, along with 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 prestigious academic institution in 2017 to help foreign researchers, scientists, intellectuals and artists who find themselves in dangerous conditions. The program has provided special residency permits and practical support for people from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

Assistance to Palestinians

Since the start of the war in Gaza in late 2023, a group of thirty-one Palestinian artists, writers and scholars and their families have been granted refuge in France via Pause and France’s student evacuation programme.

Official Reaction

Yet, on August 1st, top diplomat Jean-Noël Barrot declared that “no evacuation of any kind” would proceed while officials examined allegedly antisemitic statements shared by a female student who had arrived in France from Gaza during summer and was scheduled to begin classes at a French institute this fall.

“This suspension of evacuation programmes because of a single incident involving offensive online content is a type of group retribution at a time when all signatories to the Genocide Conventions should be doing their utmost to protect Gazans from annihilation and must avoid involvement in crimes against humanity”, the letter addressed to Macron says.