The open letter, published in solidarity with the Indigo Kills Kids campaign, demands that Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and her husband, Gerald Schwartz, fully divest from the company or dissolve the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers. The authors state they will no longer support events sponsored by Indigo until these conditions are met.
The HESEG Foundation is a Canadian charitable organization that provides grants and scholarships to foreign volunteers who enlist in the Israeli military. The letter notes that Reiman and Schwart have donated an average of $5 million annually to these grants, with a specific donation of $4,600,000 recorded in 2024.
Signatories argue that the foundation maintains its charitable status despite Canada Revenue Agency stipulations that supporting the armed forces of another country is not charitable. The letter cites a 2025 report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which outlined businesses making financial gains from the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Middle East.
This boycott follows a broader pressure campaign within the Canadian literary community. In late 2025, the Giller Prize ended its partnership with Indigo Books after years of protests from groups such as Can Lit Responds and No Arms in the Arts. The Giller Prize had also severed ties with lead sponsor Scotiabank earlier that year.
The letter calls on the literary community to hold companies accountable for their financial support of the Israeli military. It urges authors to join the boycott to oppose what the signatories describe as Indigo’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza.