This is truly shocking. My invitation to participate in the Athens World Poetry Festival got cancelled, simply because the organizers planned, it seems after the invitation was sent, to pair me with an israeli poet but then they realized this would be a “dangerous” evening as it would be opposed by anti-Palestinian people and thus ruin the festival. But come on, who said that I should even be paired with an israeli poet? That was not mentioned in the invitation, which was sent to me in February 2024? And who even expected me to agree to something like this? Me?????? This is shameful and disgusting. Poets should be invited to read and discuss their poems, especially during hard times like these. I write poetry because it’s what people must hear. Pairing me with a poet from a country that destroyed my home, that kidnapped and tortured me, that massacred my members of my family, neighbors and students and friends, and that continues to so this unashamedly, is utterly dangerous and unacceptable. PS. I was invited to this festival in 2023 and I couldn’t get the visa in time because of the israeli refusal to give me a permit to visit the Greek embassy in Jerusalem, and thus I was invited to this year’s festival. But…