https://arab.news/bn5hu
- Ronya Othmann from Germany has taken controversial positions on issues related to Islam and Muslims
- Pakistani intellectuals say in a letter it is not possible to remain neutral in the face of Israeli aggression
ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistan-origin academics, authors, activists, students, and professionals have written an open letter to the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), criticizing its decision to invite Ronya Othmann, a pro-Israel author and poet based in Germany, as one of the speakers at its upcoming event this month.
KLF annually celebrates literature, bringing together writers, critics and intellectuals from Pakistan and around the world. It features a variety of activities including readings, discussions, book launches and signings.
The festival aims to foster a love for literature, promote literary and cultural activities, and encourage dialogue on important social, political, and cultural issues.
However, its management’s decision to invite Othmann did not go down well with a number of people, not only because of her support for Israel but also due to her controversial comments and positions on issues related to Islam and Muslims.
“We, the undersigned, write as concerned Pakistanis to express our deep alarm and outrage at the Karachi Literature Festival’s decision to invite Ronya Othmann as a speaker for its 2024 session,” the letter announced at the outset. “Othmann is a writer based in Germany, who has taken Zionist and Islamophobic positions and participated in panels and discussions aimed at discrediting pro-Palestinian protests in Germany as anti-semitic and Islamist.”
It noted that Othmann and her fellow panelist maintained during a discussion organized by the German newspaper TAZ last November that Muslim immigrants including Palestinians were “jihadists” and “terrorists” for expressing sympathy with Palestinian resistance to Israel’s 75 years of occupation.
At one point, she likened Hamas to Daesh, making unsubstantiated claims about its origins and declaring that writers of color challenging Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza were not only Hamas apologists but also “declaring self-defense to be mass murder and the victim to be a bloodthirsty perpetrator.”
“As Pakistanis, we find KLF’s choice of Othmann as a speaker unacceptable — indeed, obscene — and especially so given that the Israeli genocide of Palestinians is in its 6th month, with over 28,000 Palestinians dead, more than 10,000 of them children,” the letter said. “Israel has deliberately killed poets and teachers, doctors and first responders. As part of its genocidal campaign it has destroyed all vital infrastructure in Gaza, including every single university.”
“The International Court of Justice, in its provisional measures order, has declared that the South African case charging Israel with genocide has validity,” it added. “It is mindboggling that at this critical moment in history when people of conscience all over the world are denouncing Israel, KLF has chosen to invite and platform a Zionist and genocide apologist.”
The open letter said it recognized KLF’s importance as a space for literary and intellectual discourse in a deeply polarized country. However, it noted it was not possible to remain neutral in the face of Israel’s ongoing military campaign which had led to the death of so many Palestinians.
KLF has removed Othmann’s name from the list of speakers on its website.
Israel’s ongoing military onslaught in Gaza, which began in October last year, has been widely unpopular in Pakistan and has also drawn criticism from the international community.
This is also in line with Pakistan’s longstanding support for the Palestinian cause and its opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.