We are parents and concerned citizens of Montreal, including members of the Jewish community, artists, authors and publishers of children’s literature. We write to support the author Élise Gravel and to support freedom of conscience and expression.
This week we learned that Gravel’s books have been removed from your shelves. This is news that we find deeply disturbing. Her books were not banned because of their content, but because of Élise Gravel’s courage in defending the children of Palestine.
We are watching with horror the war taking place in Gaza. Of course, our hearts break for all the children, Israeli or Palestinian, who have been affected by this horrible war. But it is undeniable that the consequences of this war on the children of Gaza are disproportionate and indefensible. More than 11,500 children1 were killed by the bombings. No less than 17,000 children2 are unaccompanied or separated from their parents. These numbers will soon multiply exponentially due to the siege Israel is imposing on Gaza, a siege violating the International Court of Justice’s directive for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The lifelong psychological damage they will suffer is immeasurable.
As people who care about the well-being of all children, we find this unacceptable. Many of us have had difficulty explaining this horror to our little ones.
Children watch this war and are as devastated by it as we are. They are looking for ways to understand the situation and help the children of Gaza.
We are grateful to Élise Gravel for her powerful artistic work over the past few months. She always gave us tools to teach children courage, compassion, curiosity and empathy. She makes no exceptions when it comes to speaking to them about the suffering of their Palestinian counterparts.
A call to courage
The suppression of Gravel’s books represents, in our eyes, the most reprehensible form of censorship, because it is motivated not by the content of the works, but by a disagreement with the legitimate political opinions of the author. Élise Gravel has never expressed the slightest alleged anti-Semitism of which she has been unjustly accused. On the contrary, it explains and helps parents explain that the violence of the State of Israel, which we condemn, has nothing to do with Judaism.
Mme Gravel recently said she was the subject of intimidation and attempts to harm her career. Faced with these actions, she expressed her willingness to sacrifice her career in the name of human rights and solidarity with oppressed populations. She also expressed her compassion for library leaders, faced with difficult decisions in an environment often marked by a toxic climate and social pressures.
We invite the Jewish Public Library of Montreal to demonstrate the same courage, to defend the principles that we expect of a community library. Support the freedom of authors to express their legitimate political opinions.
We ask that the books of Mme Gravel are reinstated on the shelves and that you stop participating in the growing suppression of voices in solidarity with Palestine.
An author who is censored because of her pro-Palestinian comments? But no, that can’t be!
A library that infringes on a writer’s freedom of expression? But no, that can’t be!
A world in which legitimate criticism of genocidal aggression is not confused in bad faith with anti-Semitism? Yes, it can be!
*Lead co-signers: Jessica Barker, host, actress and author; Vincent Bolduc, actor and author; Peggy Burns, editor, Drawn & Quarterly; Nathalie Cohen, psychotherapist, Montreal Families for Palestine; Cécile Gariépy, illustrator; Eve Landry, actress; and at least 265 people who signed this Letter of support for Élise Gravel
1. Read “11,500 Children Have Been Killed in Gaza.” Horror of This Scale Has No Explanation”
2. Watch “At least 17,000 children separated from their families in Gaza”
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue
reference: www.lapresse.ca