The Violette and Co bookstore was tagged due to the exhibition of a coloring book on Palestine. The establishment, located in the XIe Arrondissement in Paris, has since been victim of an “intimidation campaign”.
The Violette and Co bookstore, located in the XIe Paris district, victim ” an intimidation, degradation and threat campaign ” Since the start of the summer. The establishment specializing in feminist literature, lesbian and LGBTQ+ reveals in a press release published on social networks on August 11, to have been taken as target because of the choices of the books exposed for their summer showcase. There are works on ” the extreme right, racism, colonialism, in Palestine and novels of Arab feminists and feminists ”.
Among the titles: Extreme right: the resistable ascent of Clémence watched, Bolloré peril by Marie Bénilde, Make a Palestinian state impossible: Israel’s objective since its creation by Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, Ethnic cleaning of Palestine of Ilan Pappé, France, land of pitfalls: at the heart of the administrative mistreatment of foreigners by Marianne Leloup-Dassonville or From the river to the sea From Nathi Ngubane and Azad Essa, a coloring book on Palestine. The storefront was thought in reaction to ” Homonizationalist discourse (denounce the instrumentalization of LGBT+ rights by nationalist governments) and femonationist (the instrumentalization of a feminist discourse for “racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic” ends “)”) “explains the bookstore on social networks.
Pass advertising
This selection -and in particular the presence of the coloring book From the River to the Sea- arouses violent reactions. At the beginning of July, arriving at their workplace, the booksellers discovered the tagged establishment of the “Islamo accomplice” and “rapist” inscriptions. The staff of the establishment then decided to file a complaint with the public prosecutor. The book is also withdrawn from the storefront ” Because we are afraid », Reveals Loïse, co -manager of Violette and Co in the columns of Mediapart . Intimidations start again a few weeks later. The booksellers say they were faced on August 6 with a group of five women who wondered why a ” Coloring book on Palestine was displayed in the window ». The clients claim by “raising the tone”: ” Palestine does not exist » et « There is no genocide ».
Bolloré and republican deputies pinned
It is the beginning of a campaign of “cyberbullying”. The next day, on August 7, the bookstore received telephone calls for the famous coloring book. Social networks are in turn after the publication of a tweet that has become viral describing the book co -signed by Nathi Ngubane and Azad tries as “Hamas propaganda”. One of the authors, Nathi Ngubane, had presented his project in the columns of Mail & Guardian “Like a work of activity accessible to children, who would also teach them things about the struggle of Palestine for freedom”. For some Internet users, this book is a ” terrorist propaganda Due to its title which has a double meaning. From the river to the sea (“From river to sea”) was originally a slogan used by the Palestine Liberation Organization (OLP) in the 1960s to claim the creation of a state extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan. Thirty years later, the expression was diverted by Hamas for ” call for the destruction of Israel ».
The controversy extends to the circle of certain republican deputies, such as Aurélien Véron and Nelly Garnier. The latter write on social networks that it is a “anti -Semitic” book, calling for “the disappearance of Israel”. The news also spreads to the media and in particular those belonging to Vincent Bolloré, underlines the bookstore. “” CNews, the Sunday newspaper and Europe 1“Would have” fueled harassment “ in “Relaying false information” About the book, writes the establishment.
Violette and Co staff say they are ” dismayed that a coloring book shocks more than a genocide ». Today, the establishment reveals to have received a wave of support from customers and Internet users. The 30 copies ofFrom the river to the sea Available in the bookstore have been sold, rejoices Violette and Co in an Instagram story. The demand being stronger and stronger, the book will even be reprinted and the establishment replenished in the coming days.
