Thousands of writers and members of the entertainment industry signed two opposing letters this week, one pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions, and the other condemning the call for a boycott, in the latest sign of the deep divisions that have erupted in the literary world over the conflict in the Middle East.

The first letter, signed by Percival Everett, Sally Rooney, Kaveh Akbar, Rachel Kushner, Jhumpa Lahiri, Justin Torres, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Annie Ernaux, along with more than 2,700 other people, calls for a boycott of Israeli cultural institutions, including publishers, literary agents and literary festivals.

Published on the website Literary Hub on Oct. 28, the letter states that participating authors will not work “with Israeli cultural institutions that are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians.”

While no specific organizations were named, the letter said that authors would refuse to collaborate with institutions that have failed to publicly voice support for “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law” and those that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights” by discriminating against Palestinians or by “justifying Israel’s occupation” and its military actions in Palestinian territories, which have led to tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza.

The authors who signed the letter also asked publishers, editors and agents to join the boycott.

The boycott campaign was organized by a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups, including the Palestine Festival of Literature, Publishers for Palestine and Writers Against the War on Gaza.

That letter prompted criticism from the organization Creative Community for Peace, a group representing members of the literary and entertainment world that opposes the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

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