German city cancels award ceremony for author over her alleged links to group backing boycott of Israel

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - The West German city of Bochum announced Tuesday that it has suspended a planned award ceremony for German-British author Sharon Dodua Otoo because of her alleged links to a group supporting a boycott of Israel.

“At its meeting on November 10th, the eight-member jury voted for Sharon Dodua Otoo as the winner. It has recently become known that the award winner is said to have supported an organization belonging to the ‘BDS.’ ‘BDS’ (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) is a political campaign that calls for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel,” the city said in a statement.

“The matter is now being examined. The city is therefore suspending the awarding of the prize. If the allegations are true, awarding the prize to Ms. Otoo is unthinkable,” it added.

A statement from the author was initially unavailable Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Otoo’s publisher S. Fischer Verlag pointed out that the author is currently in Australia and may therefore be unable to respond immediately.

Otoo, who lives in Berlin, was named as one of more than 2,000 supporters on the website of the "Artists for Palestine UK" campaign.

The artists who sign the “Artists’ Pledge” commit themselves to a cultural boycott of Israel, for example by rejecting professional invitations to the country or the funding of their work by the Israeli government.

A staunch ally of Israel in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, Germany has cracked down hard on pro-Palestinian public political and cultural events, including banning many demonstrations and rallies in major cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt.

In addition, dozens of cultural events were also canceled recently for having invited individuals or groups critical of Israel