A new writers union just formed includes Arab and Jewish writers. The new organization, the Israeli Writers Union, will strive to have writers play a greater part in the creative and cultural life of the country and to attempt to reach a dialogue with writers unions in Arab countries. Thirty-three writers, including 10 Arabs, are among the founding members. Many of the Jewish writers are also members of the existing Hebrew Writers Union and some have announced they are resigning from that organization.
The founding committee included Yoram Kanyuk, Gabriel Moked, Menahem Peri, Antoine Shams and Sian Daud. Kanyuk, a writer and journalist, said the new group will try to bridge the gaps between the Hebrew and Arab writers and between writers and the public. He said he hoped that someday the new group would replace the Hebrew Writers Union. Shams, an Arab poet, said that if the new union succeeded in breaking the division between Jewish and Arab writers it would be a great achievement.
However, Hebrew Writers Union supporters said the new group comprises writers who are anti-establishment and are concerned more with politics than literature. They said the Jewish writers in the new groups are leftists who claim to know better what the Arab writers need than do the Arab writers. They said it had been agreed that Arab writers would join the existing writers group as part of a separate unit within the organization.
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