Indian-origin author declines award over New York museum’s ban on 'keffiyeh'

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri withdrew her nomination for an award from the New York Noguchi Museum after it fired three employees for wearing keffiyehs at work.

The museum released a statement on Thursday which read, "Jhumpa Lahiri has chosen to withdraw her acceptance of the 2024 Isamu Noguchi Award in response to our updated dress code policy."

"We respect her perspective and understand that this policy may or may not align with everyone's views," it added.

Lahiri is a British-American author whose parents are from India's West Bengal. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her novel "Interpreter of Maladies."

The art museum established by Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi barred its employees from wearing anything that reflected any political expression or affiliation.

In August, three workers were fired for wearing keffiyeh scarves at the museum.

Keffiyehs are worn by people around the world to demonstrate their affiliation with the Palestinian cause.

Pro-Palestinian supporters in the US have faced difficulties, with several individuals losing jobs, facing violent threats and banned from expressing their solidarity with the people in Gaza experiencing Israeli genocide. 

Last year, in October, a Palestinian-American woman was wounded and her six-year-old child was stabbed to death by a 71-year-old man in Chicago.

In November, three Palestinian students were injured after being shot in Vermont, two of whom were wearing keffiyehs.

A Palestinian-American nurse was sacked in May 2024 at New York University's Langone Hospital for using the word "genocide" during an award ceremony speech.