Sally Rooney will publish a Hebrew translation of Intermezzo with a BDS-friendly publisher.

At long last, the beloved Irish writer Sally Rooney will publish a Hebrew translation of her latest novel, Intermezzo.

Rooney, a vocal supporter of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, hasn’t published a book in Israel since 2021. But thanks to a new alliance with the BDS-compliant publisher, November Books, there’s a new translation in the works.

November Books is an indie outfit. To publish the book, they’ll be working in cahoots with +972 magazine and Local Call, two other independent Israeli publications. Per a joint press release, all three companies “support the comprehensive, UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people” and oppose “military occupation and apartheid.”

This makes them unique among dozens of other Israeli publishers that collaborate with the government, operate in the contested West Bank, or openly discriminate against Palestinians.

In 2021, Rooney turned down a chance to publish her third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You with one of those publishers—to the chagrin of many Israeli readers.

Dr. Ishai Menuchin, the director of November, expressed no small pride at the end of this intermezzo. “First and foremost, Intermezzo is an outstanding novel that deserves to be available to Hebrew readers,” he said in a statement.

At the same time, in parts of the media and in Israeli society more broadly, the boycott movement is often portrayed as inherently discriminatory. This discourse ignores BDS guidelines, which target complicity, not identity, and specifically complicity in Israel’s policies and actions as the underlying reason for the boycott. Publishing books by authors who endorse the BDS movement demonstrates to Israeli readers that opposition to occupation, apartheid, and genocide is what lies at the heart of the boycott—a clearly legitimate form of nonviolent political protest.

Rooney maintains her longstanding position re: refusing to work with Israeli companies that are complicit in violations of Palestinian rights. But she’s always said she would find a way to publish her work in Hebrew if a publisher could comply with the BDS guidelines. We’re glad the day has come.

Hebrew-reading readers can preorder the bestselling novel here.