<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[British Author Condemns Israeli Policies While Accepting &#8216;Jerusalem Prize&#8217; &#8211; International Middle East Media&nbsp;Center]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="article-details"><span class="article-detail">Tuesday February 22, 2011 11:45</span><span class="article-detail"><img class="icon" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.imemc.org/graphics/person.gif" alt="author" /> by Saed Bannoura &#8211; IMEMC News</span></span> <a href="http://www.imemc.org/report_posts?subject=Report%20post:%20Story%2060688%20with%20title:%20British%20Author%20Condemns%20Israeli%20Policies%20While%20Accepting%20%27Jerusalem%20Prize%27&amp;message=Report%20post:%20Story%2060688%20with%20title:%20British%20Author%20Condemns%20Israeli%20Policies%20While%20Accepting%20%27Jerusalem%20Prize%27%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.imemc.org%2Findex.php%3Fobj_id%3D53%26story_id%3D60688%26%0A%0AEnter+your+reason+here+-+please+do+not+remove+the+above+link+as+it+will+allow+an+editor+to+easily+remove+the+offending+content"><img class="icon" title="Report post" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.imemc.org/graphics/report.gif" alt="Report post" /></a></p>
<blockquote class="article-intro"><p>Speaking to an audience that included a  number of Israeli officials, including President Shimon Peres and  Culture Minister Limor Livnat, British author Ian McEwan strongly  criticized Israel&#8217;s policies of land confiscation and the Israeli law of  the &#8220;right of return&#8221; which applies only to Jews, not to indigenous  Arabs.</p></blockquote>
<p class="photo"><a name="attachment36580"></a> <a href="http://www.imemc.org/attachments/feb2011/ianmcewan.jpg"><img class="summary-image" title="Click on image to see full-sized version" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.imemc.org/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/feb2011/460_0___10000000_0_0_0_0_0_ianmcewan.jpg" alt="Ian McEwan (image from alternativenews)" width="460" height="345" /></a><br />
Ian McEwan (image from alternativenews)</p>
<p class="article">Speaking  in Jerusalem over the weekend, McEwan accepted the &#8216;Jerusalem Prize&#8217;  for his literary achievement as a writer, but used the occasion to  challenge the Israeli officials in the audience. The address took place  at the Binyanei Ha&#8217;uma Convention Center in Jerusalem, at the opening of  the week-long 25th Jerusalem International Book Fair.</p>
<p>A number of Israeli artists, actors and academics have called on their  international colleagues to boycott Israel, in an attempt to pressure  the Israeli government to end its 44-year occupation of Palestinian land  and provide equal rights for the Palestinian people. McEwan was asked  by British and Israeli activists to boycott the Jerusalem Book Fair and  refuse to accept the prize, but he chose to travel to Israel and accept  the prize, while still expressing his misgivings over Israel&#8217;s policies.</p>
<p>McEwan referenced the boycott in his address, saying that he &#8220;couldn&#8217;t  escape the politics&#8221; of his decision to accept the prize, adding that,  &#8220;when politics enters every last corner of existence, something has gone  profoundly wrong.&#8221;</p>
<p>Israeli officials did not respond to McEwan&#8217;s criticism in their public  statements about the fair, during which they praised Jerusalem&#8217;s  openness, pluralism and cultural diversity, but made no reference to the  ongoing takeover of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem and the West  Bank.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/60688">British Author Condemns Israeli Policies While Accepting &#8216;Jerusalem Prize&#8217; &#8211; International Middle East Media Center</a>.</p>
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