Authors are boycotting Canada’s largest bookstore chain.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mosab Abu Toha, Jenan Matari, and Daniel José Older are among the more than 100 writers who have signed an open letter vowing to boycott Indigo Books and Music, Canada’s largest bookstore. By signing the letter, the
A collective of more than 100 authors have put forth an open letter, vowing to boycott Indigo Books and Music, Canada's largest bookstore chain. The authors have pledged to cease supporting the company's events and activities until certain demands are met. These demands include Heather Reisman, the CEO of Indigo Books, and her husband Gerald Schwartz, dissolving the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers, or selling their shares in the company.
The HESEG Foundation is a Canadian charity that encourages foreign nationals to enlist in the Israeli military, and has received an average of $5 million annually in donations from Reisman and Schwartz. The foundation's status as a charitable organization has come under scrutiny, as it violates the Canada Revenue Agency's guidelines by supporting the armed forces of another country.
The Boycott Indigo Books campaign, which is in solidarity with the Indigo Kills Kids campaign, has called on authors to join the cause and express their opposition to the company's actions. The Giller Prize, Canada's most prestigious literary award, recently ended its partnership with Indigo Books after years of protest and pressure from the Canadian literary community.
Despite this, Reisman and Schwartz have shown no intention of changing their support for the Israeli military or their role in the HESEG Foundation. The authors urge the literary community to take a stand against the company's complicity in genocide and the turning of books into weapons.
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