Calling all Canadian authors and book workers: add your name to our boycott here.
It has been over one year and one month since Israel began its genocide of Palestinians. While the United Nations reports the number of Palestinians murdered as 43,000, medical journal The Lancet has projected that a more accurate number is likely closer to 180,000 when taking into account those buried under the rubble, and deaths caused by famine, disease, and the destruction of infrastructure. Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, and apartments with impunity, and have escalated their attacks into Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran.
Yet the Giller Prize remains complicit in artwashing by allowing sponsors like Scotiabank, Indigo and the Azrieli Foundation to use Canadian literature to obscure their participation in genocide.
Authors and readers have spent a year demanding the Giller cut its ties to these corporations, and the Giller Foundation responded by doubling down on its commitment to Scotiabank . Reporting from The Walrus revealed that the Foundation silenced authors participating in Giller events from speaking about Palestine, and that Giller organizers had a direct hand in pushing the criminal charges of the protestors who disrupted the Prize’s 2023 broadcast. The Foundation’s executive director has since taken to e-mails and social media to harass and disparage authors criticizing these partnerships.
In July, dozens of authors withdrew their books from consideration for this year’s prize, and past Giller nominees and winners pledged to withhold participation from Giller programming and publicity.
As a result of this boycott, Scotiabank’s made a (still partial) $400 million divestment from Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems’ own CEO also cited this nationwide organizing as the reason for the company's share price dropping by 10%. This organizing in which art workers have played a substantial and visible role has been part of the ongoing pressure placed on Scotiabank across multiple arts sectors.
As the 2024 Giller Prize is set to be announced on November 18 without any tangible action by the Giller Foundation to drop its complicit sponsors, we are expanding and extending our boycott. Now, we are calling on all Canadian authors and book workers to stand in solidarity and join the picket line — for as long as it takes until our demands are met.
We refuse to submit our books for Giller consideration, or to participate in any Giller events, promotion, or programming until the prize drops its ties to sponsors invested in the oppression of Palestinians, including Scotiabank, Indigo Books, and the Azrieli Foundation.
There’s strength in numbers, and the solidarity we’re building is the only way to create an arts community that isn’t bound to corporate blood money. This boycott is our red line in Canadian publishing. Join hundreds of authors and book workers stand against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. By acting together we can keep arms out of the arts.
Read the list of boycotting authors and book workers here.
FAQs
1. Is the boycott of the Giller Prize continuing in 2025, even though the Giller's partnership with Scotiabank has ended?
Yes, the boycott continues as long as the Giller prize retains Indigo Books and the Azrieli foundation as sponsors. Toronto Writers Against the War on Gaza has made a useful primer on our expanded Boycott Giller targets, including Indigo and the Azrieli Foundation.
Both Indigo Books and the Azrieli Foundation materially contribute to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Indigo’s CEO Heather Reisman and her husband Gerry Schwartz support “lone soldiers” in the Israeli military—non-Israeli citizens volunteering for the Israeli Occupation Forces— through their HESEG Foundation. Despite the fact that supporting non-Israelis joining its military violates Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) charity rules, public subsidies account for as much as 90 per cent of the nearly $200 million Reisman and Schwartz have used to fund lone soldiers of Israel’s military occupation.
While Reisman has attempted to obscure the fact that HESEG funds lone soldiers via a series of convoluted corrections to this Globe & Mail article, the Globe was forced to backtrack and confirm that HESEG does in fact fund foreign IDF soldiers who have completed their service.When protesters drew attention to Indigo’s connection to the HESEG foundation by allegedly postering an Indigo store with washable paint in November of 2023, Reisman made a direct call to Toronto Police Chief. It is speculated Reisman pressured TPS to enact early morning raids against protesters, and to file criminal harassment charges, which have since been dropped against 4 of the protesters. Indigo has already done irreparable harm to Canadian independent bookstores and publishers; Reisman and Schwartz’s support of lone soldiers through their HESEG foundation is an appalling misuse of Canadian taxpayer subsidies.
Reisman has also been tied to the suppression of political speech here in Canada. When protesters drew attention to Indigo’s connection to the HESEG foundation by allegedly postering an Indigo store with washable paint in November of 2023, Reisman made a direct call to Toronto Police Chief. It is speculated Reisman pressured TPS to enact early morning raids against protesters, and to file criminal harassment charges, which have since been dropped against 4 of the protesters. Indigo has already done irreparable harm to Canadian independent bookstores and publishers; Reisman and Schwartz’s support of lone soldiers through their HESEG foundation is an appalling misuse of Canadian taxpayer subsidies.
The Azrieli Group has done business in illegal West Bank settlements, both through their previous ownership of the Sonol Gas station, and their current stake in Leumi Bank, which finances the development of those settlements. The Azrieli Foundation has donated to many initiatives meant to counter criticism of Israel, including the far right group Im Tirtzu, frequently in headlines for their involvement in blocking aid to Gaza.
The bottom line is: these two other sponsors aren’t meaningfully different from Scotiabank and its investment in Elbit Systems. The fact that the Giller Prize continues to work with them means that it is still involved in the artwashing of Palestinian death and displacement.
2. What am I committing to by signing onto the boycott?
By signing on, you’re pledging to not submit Giller Prize-eligible books for consideration until all three of the boycott demands are met. You are also pledging to not participate in Giller Prize-related programming or publicity throughout the year, including their book clubs, readings, promotional campaigns, and events.
You are not committing to pull your books from Indigo, as this depends on your publishers’ contracts with distributors (more on this below).
3. If I sign on, will I have to pull my book from Indigo?
We recognize that authors do not necessarily have control over where their books are distributed or sold and we are not asking authors to pull their books from Indigo, as this depends on their publishers’ contracts with specific distributors.
However, this is exactly why the Giller Prize is a high-profile opportunity for authors to register their dissent against the activities of Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz of Indigo Books, and to exert pressure at a crucial juncture, when withdrawing a title from Indigo might not be an option.
Authors might also consider taking other tangible actions such as telling their publisher they won’t participate in any Indigo book-signings and asking readers to purchase their books from independent booksellers rather than from Indigo. When appearing at an event or festival where Indigo is the bookseller, authors might consider using social media or ceding some of their time on stage to speak on Indigo’s connection to HESEG and its funding of “lone soldiers.” We’re happy to provide fliers, sample messaging, and other support to any authors planning to use their platforms in this way.
Reisman and Schwartz have been actively repressing any criticism of their HESEG Foundation and its support of the IDF, through the intense criminalization of protestors (the Indigo “Peace 11”) as well as the attempted censorship of campaigns like Indigo Kills Kids, which was recently ordered by a court injunction brought forth by Reisman and Schwartz to take down their website.
Furthermore, Independent Jewish Voices, Dr. Miles Howe, and Just Peace Advocates recently released a report on how charities are violating Canadian laws by funding or supporting foreign militaries. Authors pulling their books from the Giller Prize , over our demand that the Giller Foundation cut ties with Indigo Books, helps bring to light how the HESEG Foundation is violating these laws.
4. Why does this campaign target the Giller Prize and not other literary awards whose sponsors -- like RBC or Amazon -- are also involved in arms manufacturing, labour exploitation, environmental injustice, etc?
CanLit Responds was sparked by the 2023 Giller gala disruption, which drew wide attention to Scotiabank’s investment in Elbit Systems and launched a campaign across multiple cultural sectors calling for Scotiabank’s full divestment from Elbit Systems.
Each of Canada’s big six banks have holdings linked to Elbit Systems, but Scotiabank’s stake is “much deeper and more deliberate than its competitors,” according to the Globe & Mail. Furthermore, despite Scotiabank’s partial divestments from Elbit System’s, as of September of 2024 its stake was still 60 times greater than that of its competitors. We later expanded our boycott demands to include Indigo Books and the Azrieli Foundation, for the reasons we’ve outlined above.
Our campaign is focused on the Giller Prize because we have to apply strategic and sustained pressure on the literary institutions and arts organizations where we as artists and writers have leverage in order to achieve material wins. For CanLit Responds, as a group of authors and book workers, the Giller Prize continues to be one such institution. We encourage you to look into funding sources of the organizations where you yourself might have leverage.
Organize with us. We’re happy to share strategies and tactics, and if you want to talk about where to get started with organizing, get in touch with us at authorsrespond@gmail.com
Other questions? Email us at authorsrespond@gmail.com