The International Booker Prize has breached its own guidelines by appointing all five judges with strongly held anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian views.

Three of the judges, Max Porter, Sana Goyal and Anton Hur, have signed letters vowing to boycott Israeli institutions unless they agree that Israel has committed genocide and ethnic cleansing, and accept “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” (effectively meaning the destruction of the State of Israel).

The fourth judge, Caleb Femi, has signed a letter accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The fifth judge, Beth Orton narrated for Voice for Gaza, calling for a permanent ceasefire in March 2024.

UKLFI has written to Gaby Wood, the CEO of the Booker Prize Foundation (BPF) questioning the impartiality of the five judges of the International Booker Prize and calling for their replacement.

UKLFI pointed out that the BPF has failed to follow its own guidelines since

(a) there is no “diversity” of views,

(b) there has been a failure to follow rules to avoid bias,

(c) harm will be caused by association with the judges’ views, which may be viewed as antisemitic, and

(d) the judges are exposed to criticism and campaigns.

UKLFI further pointed out that the appointment of these judges is contrary to Charity Commission guidance, by promoting breaches of the Equality Act and denigration of Jews and Israelis.

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “It is clear that this year’s choice of judges was ill-advised. We hope that BPF will heed this call for the judges to be changed, and for the longlist to be scrapped, and for a new set of judges with diverse views to be appointed, in accordance with the guidelines.”