A group of over one hundred literary translators—including International Booker Prize winners Jennifer Croft, Daisy Rockwell, and Deborah Smith, as well as Susan Bernofsky and Antonia Lloyd-Jones—have signed on to a powerful statement of solidarity with the people of Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and identifying aspects of the special role translators play in moments of international conflict:
As literary translators, we are in contact with writers all over the world, working to bring their work across cultures and borders … Gaza’s airspace and sea border are both controlled by Israel. Yet writers from Gaza continue to reach out to tell the world what is happening to them. Sometimes they are killed just days or weeks after their words reach us.
Organized by translators Anna Gunin and Maya Chhabra (after Gunin’s initial attempt to encourage the U.K.-based Society of Authors to issue a statement was met with resistance), the statement calls to an end to the Israeli army’s bombing of Gaza and the violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as well as “a just peace that ends the current domination of Palestinian life by the Israeli military occupation.”
If you’re a translator who would like to add your name to the statement, please email gazaopenlettertranslators@
Here is the statement in full:
We watch in horror as Israeli bombs fall on Gaza. The total number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza has now surpassed 10,000. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on November 6th that 4,008 of those deaths were children. Hospitals lack sufficient fuel for their lifesaving equipment, but Israel has banned the entry of fuel into Gaza. Israeli authorities order Gaza’s civilians to flee south, but the south is also being bombed and forced displacement does not guarantee their safety. Faced with this carnage, the undersigned literary translators feel morally compelled to oppose the devaluation of Palestinian civilian lives and to call for a ceasefire.
As literary translators, we are in contact with writers all over the world, working to bring their work across cultures and borders. Gaza has been cut off from the rest of the world by a constant blockade since 2007. The Palestinians who live there cannot leave without exit permits from Israel or Egypt. Gaza’s airspace and sea border are both controlled by Israel. Yet writers from Gaza continue to reach out to tell the world what is happening to them. Sometimes they are killed just days or weeks after their words reach us.
Revulsion at Hamas’s killing of over 1,400 Israelis, including around 1,100 civilians, cannot supersede international law. Even in times of great grief, the fundamental principle of civilian immunity must not be violated. Understanding the pain of Israelis as they fear for the lives of the hostages does not mean justifying the actions of the Israeli government. To make the protection of civilians by any side conditional on reciprocity will lead only to disaster. Just as Israeli civilians must be off-limits, so too must Palestinian civilians.
This urgency extends beyond Gaza. Since October 7th, Israeli forces have killed over a hundred Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which is not controlled by Hamas. Soldiers abuse detainees; extremist settlers attack Palestinian civilians with impunity.
An equitable resolution that ends the occupation and enables Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace and freedom seems as far away as ever. The current Israeli government, which includes a convicted far right extremist as Minister of National Security, has consistently doubled down on supporting illegal settlements in the West Bank, rather than taking steps to negotiate with Palestinian partners and achieve a just peace. High-level politicians make inflammatory speeches referring to “human animals” and “Amalek.” We focus on the actions of the Israeli government as we believe they have the most power in this situation. And amid such actions from those in power, it is hard not to be discouraged.
We, the undersigned translators, refuse to despair. We believe that peace is possible and that it starts with choosing to protect civilians now. We insist that Palestinian lives have equal value and that civilians must be protected at all times.
We invite our fellow translators, as well as professional groups in our field, to join us in calling for:
The cessation of Israeli bombardment and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilian life, as well as lifting the blockade so humanitarian aid can be delivered safely.
The immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas.
A just peace that ends the current domination of Palestinian life by the Israeli military occupation, and provides for the freedom, security, and civil and political rights of both peoples.
Signed,
Hosam Aboul-Ela
Kareem James Abu-Zeid
Kanika Agrawal
Sascha Akhtar
Nguyễn An Lý
Jocelyne Allen
Alexis Almeida
Kalau Almony
Stine An
Tomoko Aoyama
Sarah Ardizzone
Emily Balistrieri
Polly Barton
Kimrey Anna Batts
Brian Bergstrom
Susan Bernofsky
Rahul Bery
Tarun Bhartiya
Jenny Bhatt
Clarissa Botsford
Conor Bracken
Thomas Bunstead
Peter Bush
Charlène Busalli
Wendy Call
Hope Campbell Gustafson
Juliet Winters Carpenter
Bonnie Chau
Maya Chhabra
David Colmer
Charlotte Collins
David Constantine
Helen Constantine
Richard Coombes
Jennifer Croft
Sinéad Crowe
Howard Curtis
Marissa Davis
Sayari Debnath
Stephen Dodd
Ian Dreiblatt
Ilze Duarte
Patricia Dubrava
Miled Faiza
Pauline Fan
Musharraf Ali Farooqi
Meggie Felisberto
Will Firth
Alex Fleming
Morgan Giles
Claudia Gómes Oliveira
Katherine Gregor
Jason Grunebaum
Gioia Guerzoni
Anna Gunin
Kat Hall
Vighnesh Hampapura
Jein Han
Nicky Harman
Rosalind Harvey
Louise Heal Kawai
Linda Hess
Grace Holleran
Mette Holm
Amanda Hopkinson
Anton Hur
Sawad Hussain
Anne Marie Jackson
Nathan Jeffers
Jayasree Kalathil
Aruni Kashyap
Madhu Kaza
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Jenny Jisun Kim
David Larsen
Fathima E.V.
Janet Elizabeth Lee
Sophia Rebecca Lewis
Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Bruna Dantas Lobato
Archana Madhavan
Ruth Martin
Janet McAdams
Paul McCarthy
David McKay
Florencia Milito
Paige Morris
Ainsley Morse
Ottilie Mulzet
Rob Myatt
Shabnam Nadiya
Nashwa Nasreldin
Takami Nieda
Greg Nissan
Lulu Norman
Lucy North
Kathleen Maris Paltrineri
paparouna
Zoë Perry
Francoise Pinteaux-Jones
Namrata Poddar
Radhika
Mahmud Rahman
Ramaswamy
Oliver Ready
Gabi Reigh
Clare Richards
Louise Rogers Lalaurie
Larry Rosenwald
Julia Sanches
Ros Schwartz
Timon Screech
Trista Selous
Vaibhav Sharma
Moazzam Sheikh
Arunava Sinha
Nichola Smalley
Deborah Smith
D.P. Snyder
Isabel Stainsby
Corine Tachtiris
Ginny Tapley Takemori
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún
Elton Uliana
Daisy Rockwell
Rachel Valinsky
Katherine Van de Vate
Christina Vega-Westhoff
Alison Watts
Yilin Wang
Shaun Whiteside
Emily Yae Won
Jonathan Wright
Frank Wynne
Roy Youdale
Jeffrey Zuckerman
