J M Coetzee declines Jerusalem International Literature Festival

The 86-year-old South African author, now living in Australia, has declined and also justified his decision, reports The Guardian, which has seen the correspondence.

In 1987 he visited Israel and received the Jerusalem Prize, but now he no longer wants to go there: “The Holocaust campaign in Gaza has changed all this,” he writes, among other things. He concludes:

"It will take many years for Israel to clear its name, assuming it wants to do so, and to re-establish itself in the international community."

The festival takes place from May 25 to 28.