[guest post by JVW]

Dina Rubina is an Israeli writer who was born in Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union) and who writes in the Russian language. Her books have been translated into over two dozen languages.

Natalia (Natasha) Rulyova is a Professor of Russian in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Birmingham in the UK. She describes herself as currently “working on the project entitled Contemporary Russophone Literature: Diversity and Decoloniality,” so those later two buzzwords following the colon provide a clue as to her political orientation.

The Quadrant is an Australian journal which promotes “the defence of the values, practices, and institutions of a free and open society by fostering literary and cultural activity of the highest standard.” They further describe themselves as “committed to the preservation and advancement of the cultural freedom that is the distinctive component of traditional Western culture.”

Ms. Rubina was invited by a Russian language publisher based in London to participate in a discussion of her work, with Professor Rulyova acting as moderator. The professor dashed off a breezy email message to the author to clear up an issue hanging in the air in these stupid times. Here is what she wrote:

From: Nataliya Rulyova

Hello, Dina!
The Pushkin House announced our upcoming conference on social media and immediately received critical messages regarding your position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They wanted to understand your position on this issue before responding. Could you formulate your position and send it to me as soon as possible?
— Natasha

The Quadrant published Ms. Rubina’s response to Professor Rulyova’s inquiry. I’m going to ask you to click over to their site in order to read it. I guarantee you it is worth the while. Make sure not to miss Ms. Rubina’s concluding thought.

– JVW