Organisations that pulled out -- including from the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia -- were also angered at a decision to postpone an award ceremony for a Palestinian author following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war.
The Frankfurt Book Fair official begins Wednesday against the backdrop of the escalating conflict that began after Palestinian militants burst through the heavily fortified Gaza border on October 7th and launched the deadliest attack in Israel's history.
Book fair organisers swiftly denounced the "barbaric" assault and rushed to reorganise the schedule, pledging Israeli voices would feature prominently.
But, highlighting the bitter divisions unleashed by the conflict, the world's biggest publishing trade event has since faced withdrawals by organisations in mostly Muslim countries.
Among them was the Indonesian Publishers Association, which said organisers' decision to "take sides and give Israel a platform has undermined the ideals of dialogue and efforts to build mutual understanding.
"Siding with Israel while forgetting the suffering of the Palestinian people is like reading only one book to feel like you understand the whole world."
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, and does not have diplomatic ties with Israel. The publishing association had been due to take part in activities promoting Indonesian culture at the fair.
The education ministry in Malaysia said it was pulling out, citing organisers "pro-Israel stance".
The Sharjah Book Authority, in the United Arab Emirates, and the Emirates Publishers Association have also withdrawn, while the UAE-based National newspaper reported the Arab Publishers' Association in Egypt had pulled out.
Asked about the withdrawals, fair director Juergen Boos told a press conference he was "very disappointed" some participants had chosen not to come "because of geopolitics".
"That's a complete for disaster for us, for myself. I want people to be here, to have a (frank) discourse, to have discussions even if it might be controversial."
Anger at award delay
There has also been anger at a decision to postpone an award ceremony for Palestinian author Adania Shibli.
She was due to receive the LiBeraturpreis, a German award, for her book "A Minor Detail," based on the real events of a 1949 rape and murder by Israeli soldiers.
It is organised by Litprom, which gives out the honour each year at the fair, but the group decided not to go ahead with the ceremony "due to the war started by Hamas".
READ ALSO: Row breaks out at Frankfurt Book Fair over Palestinian author's award
The group says it will hold the event later, and insisted that awarding the prize to Shibli was "never in question."
However in an open letter released Monday, over 600 signatories including high-profile authors, publishers and literary agents, condemned the move.
Postponing the award amounted to "closing out the space for a Palestinian voice", said the letter, whose signatories included Abdulrazak Gurnah and Olga Tokarczuk, both winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Other writers who signed included Pankaj Mishra, William Dalrymple, Colm Toibin and Naomi Klein.
Asked about the controversy Tuesday, a book fair spokesman said Litprom decided to delay the ceremony to a later date when it would be more possible to "have a more dignified exchange about literature".
The book fair does not organise the award.
Elsewhere at the fair, one of the most anticipated authors featuring this year will be Salman Rushdie, who has appeared only rarely in public since a stabbing attack last year that nearly killed him.
Rushdie, who has faced death threats since his 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" was declared blasphemous by Iran's supreme leader, lost sight in one eye in the attack in the small American town of Chautauqua.
The Frankfurt Book Fair, in its 75th edition this year, runs from Wednesday to Sunday.
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