Erri De Luca was banned from the Salerno Literature Festival for comments about Gaza. The artistic director said, "It wasn't right to pretend nothing happened."

The Salerno Literature Festival, scheduled for June 13th to 20th, was supposed to open, but writer Erri De Luca's name was removed from the program. As reported by 'Il Mattino', the festival's artistic director decided not to assign the writer the opening address following the controversy sparked by his statements on Gaza, Israel, and Zionism. Gennaro Carillo, the festival's artistic director, explained the reasons in detail to Adnkronos: "The opening address, for a festival, is the equivalent of an editorial for a newspaper. Those who speak also do so on behalf of the organizers and the artistic director. And this year, the theme has a strong political undertone."  

Speaking at the Salerno Literature Festival "implies a reflection on the 'difficult times' we are living in," Carillo emphasizes. Returning to Erri De Luca's recent statements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he emphasizes: "Precisely because of the respect we hold De Luca in high regard, and despite knowing his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, his statements surprised us greatly. In both form and substance. We could have ignored them, but that wouldn't have been right. Art can take no position, or take very wrong positions. At a festival, however, it's not permitted not to take a position, even if only during the opening remarks (the speech that officially opens the festival, ed.)."  

There's no objection to the writer's presence, explains the artistic director, in another location: a proposal that, however, De Luca would not have accepted. "We would have been happy to host De Luca in another section anyway, to listen to him, learn from him, and discuss it as frankly as possible," Carillo concludes. Opening the festival in De Luca's place will be the two artistic directors of the event, Gennaro Carillo and Paolo Di Paolo. 

(Adnkronos)