South African Nobel Prize-winning laureate JM Coetzee has snubbed an invitation to the 14th International Writers Festival in Jerusalem, citing Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the festival director, Julia Fermentto-Tzaisler, Coetzee’s refusal was based on his view that Israel has been conducting a campaign of genocide in Gaza that is disproportionate to the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
‘Genocide’
Tzaisler revealed that Coetzee wrote an email about the situation in Gaza, according to Ynet News.
“Over the past two years the State of Israel has been conducting a campaign of genocide in Gaza that is disproportionate to the ‘murderous provocations’ that took place on 7 October – a genocide that received enthusiastic support from most of the Israeli public.
“For this reason, it is impossible for any part of Israeli society – including the intellectual and artistic communities – to claim it does not share in the guilt for the atrocities in Gaza,” Coetzee wrote.
The author, who won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, concluded that restoring Israel’s name internationally would take “many years, if it is interested in that at all”.
Shock
Tzaisler responded to Coetzee with an email expressing deep shock and despair over his refusal. She sought to “set the record straight” regarding his characterisation of the conflict.
“As a South African writer who fought apartheid, I would have expected – or perhaps dreamed – that you would extend a hand to me, that you would say to me, ‘Fight, my daughter. Do not stop fighting.’ Writers and literature have a role, and it is not to remain silent or disappear.
“But instead, in your email, you chose to push me deeper into the abyss in which I already find myself. And you ended your letter by saying that forgiveness, repair and healing are nowhere on the horizon. You left me in despair. We do not know each other, but I do not believe despair was ever your way – not as a writer and not as a person who cares about the world and about human beings,” she wrote.
Coetzee’s decision, which reflects a broader trend of cultural figures boycotting Israeli institutions, occurred despite other authors, such as Erri De Luca and Dara Horn, remaining on the festival’s schedule.
ICJ case
Last month, Israel finally filed its long‑delayed response in South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), even as Gaza endured relentless bombardment, mounting civilian deaths, and worsening humanitarian collapse after three binding ICJ orders and a purported ceasefire.
Israel submitted its response on Thursday, 12 March 2026 – more than seven months after the court’s original deadline of 28 July 2025. The ICJ had twice granted Israel extensions to respond to South Africa’s Memorial, which was filed on 28 October 2024.
South Africa first lodged its 84‑page application on 29 December 2023, urging the ICJ to find Israel guilty of genocide and order an immediate halt to its invasion of Gaza.
Since then, Pretoria has approached the ICJ four times seeking interim measures. Although three binding orders have been granted, they have had little impact in halting Israel’s attacks or ensuring humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has previously stated that South Africa remains committed to pursuing the case “through to its conclusion”.
