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• Public division over Israel-Hamas war spills into the arts world - Josh O'Kane, The Globe and Mail (November 19, 2023)

  "In a statement, Giller executive director Elana Rabinovitch said that the protesters had shown 'disrespect to Canadian authors, and their literary achievements that were made throughout the year.'"

"We stand with the protestors, and we urge that the charges against them be dropped. And we join our voices with hundreds of thousands of protestors across Canada who are decrying the unfolding genocide happening in Gaza and Palestine."

To date, over 2100+ authors have signed the letter.

• Giller prize protest shows now is no time for writers to be silent - Jacob Scheier, rabble.ca (November 17, 2023)

  “As a Jewish person, I have spoken out and written against Israeli occupation and now genocide upon Palestinians—in order to say, not in my name. As a Canadian writer, I feel a similar obligation to speak against writers, in this country, who have been silent in the face of genocide—to say, they do not represent me.”

• Canadian writers ask Giller prize to drop charges against pro-Palestinian protesters - Ella Creamer, The Guardian (November 21, 2023)

  "...[Bernstein said] 'I support the right to protest, and I hope the charges against the protesters will be dropped,' she added. 'I’m proud to join fellow Canadian writers in also calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.'”

• Scotiabank Giller Prize can be a life-changing sum. Can authors accept its sponsor’s tie to an Israeli weapons producer? - Shani Mootoo, Toronto Star (November 23, 2023)

  "I would wager that were the Giller to say to Scotia “thanks, but no thanks,” the prize would gain yet another angle of prestige. The Giller would have to rein itself in, of course, and go back to being about books rather than affirming the hollow glamour of glitzy ceremonies built on top of dead bodies."

This divestment happened in the fourth quarter of 2023, after months of ongoing resistance from Palestinian solidarity groups.

• Scotiabank Cuts Stake in Israeli Defense Firm Elbit as War Drags On - Paula Sambo and Christine Dobby, Bloomberg News (March 11, 2024)

  “In November, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, protesters briefly occupied the bank’s headquarters in downtown Toronto. But the investment was controversial even before the war because Elbit had been accused of manufacturing cluster munitions, which can kill or maim civilians during a conflict or long after it has ended.”

  "Scotiabank’s quiet divestment still falls short," Angus Wong, senior campaign manager at Eko, said via email. "They must demonstrate genuine commitment by fully divesting from Elbit Systems and prioritizing human rights over profits."

Writers join forces with visual artists, filmmakers, and cultural workers under the banner of  No Arms in the Arts . Our campaign demands that all cultural institutions receiving funding from Scotiabank, including Hot Docs, CONTACT, and the Giller Prize pressure Scotiabank to divest from Elbit and end their complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

• Canadian Arts Funder Faces Pressure to Divest From Israeli Weapons Supplier - Maya Pontone, Hyperallergic (March 26, 2024)

  “Our institutions have high value to Scotiabank. We are asking them to use their position as partners to tell Scotiabank they cannot invest in a genocide and then expect artists accept their arts funding, as if that does not tarnish both them and us.” - Thea Lim (2018 Giller Prize Finalist)

• Canadian writers call on Scotiabank to divest from Israeli arms manufacturer - Dan Sheehan, LitHub (April 4, 2024)

  “We refuse to let our work distract for even a second from the filthy business of war. To use language that will be familiar to a bank: it’s not worth it. We won’t be bought. There isn’t a book or a film or painting here that is worth the slaughter of a single civilian there.” – Noor Naga (2022 Giller Prize Finalist)

This follows months of action and growing pressure, including writers and artists withdrawing from the programming of Scotiabank-funded institutions like the Giller Prize and CONTACT Photography Festival.

• Scotiabank's fund unit halved stake in Israeli weapons maker Elbit, filing shows - Nivedita Balu, Reuters (May 14, 2024)

  "1832 Asset Management's exposure to the weapons maker had sparked protests at Scotiabank's branches in Toronto. Protesters also disrupted Canada's prestigious Giller Prize Gala last November, an award sponsored by Scotiabank."

An article in The Walrus by Josiah Neufeld reveals startling new information about the Giller Foundation’s role in suppressing criticism of their Scotiabank sponsorship and in criminalizing Palestine solidarity. An eyewitness account suggests that Giller Foundation organizers pressured police into charging protestors for disrupting their gala in November 2023. The piece also details the experiences of several authors—including 2023 Giller Prize winner Sarah Bernstein—who withdrew from their Giller Book Club events in protest, in response to the Giller's censorship and refusal to acknowledge its lead sponsor's complicity.

• How the Giller Prize Became Associated with Genocide - Josiah Neufeld, The Walrus (June 13, 2024)

  "The writers I spoke to for this piece, however, told me that a literary organization more afraid of losing corporate sponsors than of losing authors has failed to understand something fundamental about what it means to write. 'Writers are people whose job it is to say what it means to be human,' says [Omar] El Akkad."

In a new statement addressed to the Giller Foundation, authors withdraw their books from consideration for the 2024 Giller Prize, and refuse to participate in any Giller programming until the Giller drops its partnerships with Scotiabank, Indigo, the Azrieli Foundation and Audible - all sponsors who are actively invested in Israel's ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

"This week, Elana Rabinovitch, executive director of the Giller Prize, issued a statement to the Globe and Mail saying that they are working on “a solution that will support the foundation, the prize and all authors.”

To be clear: we will not be content with half-measures. Our goal is to truly win an arts and culture sector free from arms funding. Arts institutions cannot launder their moral reputations with empty statements calling too late for a ceasefire, or toothless guarantees that they will support authors’ free speech and right to protest."

15 more authors join the call to withdraw from the Giller Prize and programming, including 2024 fiction authors, past winners, and past nominees. Two out of five 2024 jury members have also resigned.

Forced to respond, the Giller Foundation released a statement recommitting to their Scotiabank partnership: “While we respect all viewpoints that have been shared, we are confident in the integrity of Scotiabank and in our partnership. And while we appreciate the range of views that have been shared, the foundation is not a political tool.” Authors put out a statement of their own: “What is clear is that the Gillers are a political tool, and a very valuable one for companies laundering their image after investing in arms and oppression.”

• Authors pull books from Giller Prize consideration over sponsors’ ties to Israeli interests - Josh O’Kane, The Globe and Mail (July 10, 2024)

  “If Scotiabank has not fully divested, then this response from the Giller Foundation is sheer arrogance, and a display of disdain for everything that literature and the arts is about, and also a huge insult to the writers the Foundation purports to support. They serve only themselves.” - Shani Mootoo

• Dozens of Canadian writers protest the Giller Prize's relationship with Scotiabank - Elamin Abdelmahmoud, CBC's Commotion (July 17, 2024)

  "If you have to hold an awards show in your basement, because you can't afford that ballroom in the hotel anymore - that sucks, but it's a penultimate consequence. If you have to hold that award in your basement because nobody's showing up, because writers have turned away from your award, that is an ultimate consequence. An arts organization might be able to survive without as much money. I don't know that an arts organization can survive without artists." - Omar El Akkad

Scotiabank’s asset management subsidiary 1832 has cut its stake in Elbit Systems from 1,130,000 shares valued at $237 million to 642,000 shares valued at $113 million, a further divestment of $124 million in the Israeli weapons manufacturer, and an overall reduction of its stake from 5.04% in mid 2023 to 1.44%.

While Scotiabank claims it was unaffected by protests, Elbit’s CEO, referencing the Canadian fund, directly attributes the share’s weakness to mounting political pressures. It’s clear that the pressure is working—even if Scotiabank won’t admit it.

• Scotiabank says protests didn’t influence decision to pull money from Israeli arms maker — but some are skeptical - Ana Pereira, Toronto Star (September 4, 2024)

  “Scotiabank’s divestments from Elbit — a stake which had remained untouched for years — only happened as a result of organizing and immense public pressure” - Jody Chan, Toronto-based writer and organizer with No Arms In The Arts

Amidst growing calls for a boycott from nearly 40 authors who have pulled their books from consideration for this year’s prize, the Giller Prize has announced its longlist of twelve authors–and revealed it is dropping Scotiabank from its name while keeping Scotiabank as a sponsor.

• Giller Prize drops Scotiabank from its name amid ongoing controversy - Joshua Chong and Richie Assaly, Toronto Star (September 4, 2024)

  “The change of the prize’s title is a PR stunt, intended to reduce outcry. The money still comes from Scotiabank, which is heavily invested in Elbit Systems, despite knowing all the atrocities that this Israeli firm has committed against Palestinians. This whole prize is structured around art-washing the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people as a whole” -Avik Jain Chatlani, Canadian author who withdrew his debut novel from consideration

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Ahead of the 2024 prize gala, CanLit Responds launches Boycott Giller: a call for all Canadian authors and book workers to join the 40+ boycotting authors in refusing to submit their books for Giller consideration, or to participate in any Giller events, promotion, and programming until the prize drops its ties to complicit sponsors.

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On the evening of November 18, writers picketed outside the 2024 Giller Prize ceremony, and staged their Boycott Giller counter-gala across the street, with closing remarks by CanLit Responds organizer Jody Chan. The counter-gala was one of 6 events nationwide—the No Arms In The Arts Tour—where boycotting authors and book workers read and celebrated Palestinian writing, and spoke to the need for organizing within our industry. More than 300 authors and book workers have pledged to boycott the Giller Prize until the foundation drops its sponsors complicit in Israel’s genocide in Palestine.

• Demonstrators chant, wave banners outside Giller gala to protest sponsors - Jordan Omstead, Toronto Sun (November 18, 2024)

  "What Scotiabank is doing is saying it doesn’t care about the genocide, and by extension, the Giller Prize is saying it doesn’t care about genocide. They had a year to respond. They could have dropped their funder. We can have literary awards without money, but you can’t have literary awards without authors." -boycotting author Farzana Doctor