By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pulitzer Prize successful writer Jhumpa Lahiri declined to simply accept an award from New York Metropolis’s Noguchi Museum after it fired three workers for carrying keffiyeh head scarves, an emblem of Palestinian solidarity, following an up to date gown code.
“Jhumpa Lahiri has chosen to withdraw her acceptance of the 2024 Isamu Noguchi Award in response to our updated dress code policy,” the museum stated in a press release on Wednesday.
“We respect her perspective and understand that this policy may or may not align with everyone’s views.” Lahiri obtained the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her e-book “Interpreter of Maladies.”
The New York Occasions first reported the information.
Internationally, in protesters demanding an finish to Israel’s struggle in Gaza have worn the black-and-white keffiyeh head scarf, a logo of Palestinian self-determination.
Anti apartheid South African chief Nelson Mandela was additionally seen carrying the headband on many events.
Israel’s supporters, however, say it indicators backing extremism.
In November, three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont had been shot in an assault. Two had been carrying the keffiyeh.
Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza has killed tens of hundreds and displaced almost everybody there. It adopted a lethal assault by Palestinian Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7.
Final month, the artwork museum – based by Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi – introduced a coverage prohibiting workers from carrying something that expressed “political messages, slogans or symbols.” Three workers had been sacked.
Different folks in the US have additionally misplaced their jobs as a result of their stance on the Israel-Gaza struggle.
A New York Metropolis hospital fired a Palestinian American nurse in Could after she known as Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” throughout an acceptance speech for an award. Israel denies genocide expenses introduced by South Africa on the World Courtroom.
