Did you write a masterpiece and didn't dare submit it for a literary prize? The road has probably opened for you.
Like every decision by the current government, Minister Miki Zohar – to appoint Gadi Taub, Neve Dromi and Benny Ziffer to the Board of Trustees of the Literary Prizes – caused a storm.
The Board of Trustees, which is not very well known, appoints the judges with many awards awarded by the Ministry of Culture, thereby encouraging literary creativity in Israel. But here it seems that the writers, poets and translators have gone to a real war. After the announcement of the appointments, the artists announced that they would not submit themselves for the Ministry of Culture awards. To this was added a long list of academics who announced that they would not agree to sit on the judging committees of the prizes.
According to the writers, the candidates chosen by Minister Zohar are "propagandists of the Netanyahu government," which is completely unacceptable. The creators did not claim that these were people without the necessary knowledge or skills, but rather those with an unacceptable political position. In the same letter, they wrote that Minister Zohar had inserted a political consideration, thereby seeking to "harm the basic existence and freedom of expression and creativity of Israeli writers." In other words, it is permissible to disqualify the members of the committee on political grounds, but it is forbidden to appoint them on political grounds. Sorry - depends of course on which side you are on.
Meanwhile, Benny Ziffer, editor of Haaretz's culture and literature supplement, was forced to withdraw his candidacy because his newspaper forbade him from being a member of the committee. The newspaper said it did not allow its journalists to be appointed by government. This step joins the process of crowding the ranks and reducing freedom of occupation and expression that the official organ of the left-wing elite is undergoing, which includes a ban on its journalists from being interviewed by Channel 14 and Taub's dismissal from writing opinions at the newspaper.
But let's go back to the literature. Zohar's appointments are unequivocally political, and his choice is legitimate. Yes, it would be better if one of the three was a person whose political views are not so clear, but Zohar is an elected official. His voters placed his party's ballot in the ballot box so that there would also be room for their literary voice, heritage and political positions within the cultural space of the State of Israel.
Cultural figures who come from the right are familiar with the searing experience of exclusion. In many cultural fields, you have to belong to the right milieu to win prizes, and entering the milieu involves testing very specific attitudes and beliefs that are inextricably linked to the left. Would the appointment of clear leftists also encounter such opposition?
Glamour didn't knock people off the moon. The characters he chose are familiar and present in the world of literature and writing. Nave and Taub must be professional in their considerations. They must not reduce the quality of the judges appointed to the prize committees because of political position or orientation. They are supposed to expand the field of view and bring more people, more writers, poets and translators to the prize judging system, without compromising quality. Must balance. But balancing doesn't mean doing the opposite.
This protest, like many others, is cloaked in the guise of opposition to the government. But if you strip off your clothing a little, a naked truth is revealed: Those in positions of power aspire to stay in it. He wants to be the one who decides who will be part of the Israeli cultural world and who will not enter there. He has no intention of making room and sharing the decision-making position with people whose opinions he considers dismissed and outdated. This is what the protest in question is about, and that, to a large extent, is the protest that has accompanied us in recent months.
Creators and academics are allowed to boycott. It's part of the democratic game. If they do not submit nominations for the awards, a space will be created that is a great opportunity for new writers and poets, or those who have never dared to submit their works for awards. Maybe we'll find out here some new Rav Chaim, his grandmother, or maybe some shy Zelda. After all, it is known that every crisis holds a wonderful opportunity.
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