7th International Book Fair Opens in Jerusalem; Jerusalem Prize Awarded to Simone Debeauvoir

The Seventh International Book Fair opened today in Jerusalem, with the presentation of the Jerusalem Prize to French writer Simone de Beauvoir. The author arrived at Ben Gurion Airport last night, announcing she had come to demonstrate her solidarity with Israel in view of UNESCO’s discrimination against Israel. The Jerusalem Prize is the first literary prize de Beauvoir is accepting since she had won France’s prestigious Prix Concourt.

The Jerusalem Book Fair, considered second in importance after the Frankfurt Book Fair, has already turned into a demonstration of Jerusalem’s cultural importance. Some 60,000 books were displayed on 1000 stands–representing 43 countries and some 750 of the most noted publishers in the world. Some 150 of them will personally attend the fair.

The Jerusalem International Book Fair, the first of which took place in 1963, is the only such fair also open to the public and not merely to publishers. The organizers thus intended to make the event not merely one of a business nature, but also of a cultural one. Thousands of Israelis were expected to be in Jerusalem this week to enjoy the literary display.

Among the special displays were that of ancient Hebrew Jews–celebrating 500 years for the first Hebrew printed book–a 600-book stand of the Habad movement, displaying the Tanya Book, written by Habad’s founder, Rabbi Shneiur Zalman Miladi, which was the first Hebrew book printed by Habad on the west bank of the Suez Canal, after the Israeli forces crossed the canal in the Yom Kippur War–and a display of German children’s books.

A series of literary events is scheduled to take place alongside the book fair. Among them, an international convention for print and publishing, which will feature a special discussion of the status of the Jewish book in the international book market.