Carmen Callil Book Party Cancelled

The French embassy was all set to fete former Virago founder Carmen Callil for the American publication of BAD FAITH, her account of Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, the Vichy government official who organized the deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz. The book got an excellent reception in the UK and Australia and looked to have similar reviews here. But the party, which was slated for tonight, won’t happen after all. As Reuters reports, the party was cancelled after complaints about Callil’s postscript that says Israel has oppressed Palestinians.

In an email obtained by Reuters, the embassy wrote to Random House publishing imprint Alfred A. Knopf, “The Cultural Services of the French Embassy has decided to cancel its participation in a reception for ‘Bad Faith,’ by Carmen Callil. Although the French Embassy was looking forward to the presentation of a work exploring the darkest hours of French history, it could not endorse a personal opinion of the author expressed in the postscript of the book.” A source at the French Embassy’s New York office said the embassy objected to the author’s “opinion … equating what was done to the Jews of France (under the Nazi regime) with what has been done to the Palestinian people.”

Callil defended the postscript to her book. “I think the people in Gaza live in poverty huddled up in a very small territory … because people don’t like their government,” she said. “But if you persecute people, they will rise up against you.”

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