JERUSALEM: The translation into Hebrew of Egypt’s hit novel "The Yacoubian Building" by Israeli peace advocates has infuriated its author, who supports a cultural boycott of the Jewish state.
In an email to supporters, the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) said it was "offering its Hebrew readers the rare privilege of reading a bestselling Egyptian novel" by Alaa Al-Aswany.
It said Al-Aswany had refused to have the book translated and published in Israel, but that a volunteer had translated it and the center would be offering it for free to "expand cultural awareness and understanding in the region."
The email includes a link to a PDF file of the book, the first page of which warns against the reproduction or commercial use of the translation.
Al-Aswany protested the move, saying: "What the center and the translator did is piracy and theft, and I will be complaining to the International Publishers’ Association.
"My position has not changed regarding normalization with Israel. I reject it completely," he told AFP in Cairo.
The novel, first published in Arabic in 2002 and translated into English in 2004, tells the overlapping stories of the residents of a once-luxurious apartment building in downtown Cairo, providing a searing look at modern Egyptian life.
Egypt became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 but virtually all of its artists and intellectuals continue to boycott the Jewish state because of its treatment of the Palestinians.
IPCRI was launched in 1988 as a joint Israeli-Palestinian initiative aimed at promoting dialogue to help to bring about a "two states for two peoples" solution to the conflict, according to its website.
Gershon Baskin, the Israeli CEO of the group and author of the email, declined to comment on the controversy.
